The Twelve Days of Christmas
by Some Wandering Anon
Summary: The Christmas season is coming, and throughout Elgaia its citizens are waiting in anticipation for its coming. Follow the story of the summoners and their units and how they deal with the impending arrival of this occasion. (A mix of Unit interaction and OC)
1. Chapter 1

_Christmas. No one knew how this holiday first came to be nor where it originated from. With Grand Gaia's history of otherworldly visitors appearing in the most unexpected of times, it would be no surprise at least one of them had something to share that did not revolve around warfare. Someone could have brought over customs unfamiliar to the populace during the migration to what would become Elgaia. This holiday and the joy and feelings of camaraderie it would bring soon began to spread and celebrated for many generations. Eventually, many citizens, especially the children, all wait in anticipation for_ it's _annual arrival, though for some they chose not to celebrate it for personal reasons. Here is a collection of stories of how some summoners deal with the holiday's forthcoming._

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The sun pierced through the curtains, the beams of sunlight shone on Valerie's face, who was sleeping soundly. She slowly opened her eyes, squinting as it was a little too bright. Knowing it was morning already, she let out a loud yawn as she got out of bed. She rubbed her eyes as she allowed her vision to adjust itself. She looked out the window, pulling the curtains aside to see a wondrous sight. Snow was gently falling from the sky, covering the area in a light blanket. She stared outside with childlike wonder. Even though this was a scene she has seen countless times before, it did not make it any less beautiful.

She then turned on her phone to check the calendar. Her eyes widened as she looked at the date. December 12. Christmas, her favorite holiday, was coming in less than 2 weeks. This came to her as a surprise, She did not pay attention to the days that went by, nor did she thought that time would pass by so fast. It was most likely from all the missions she went on that made her unaware of these changes. Of course, the arrival of winter was indeed an early sign, but for the most part, she was so used to traveling from Grand Gaia and back that she was used to seeing rapid changes in climate wherever she went. She tried to keep herself from squealing lest she accidentally wakes up her partner, James.

She quickly changed her clothes, from her fuzzy pink pajamas to her usual attire, albeit with longer stockings, adding gloves and a nice scarf to accommodate with the cold weather. She went to his room first to see how he was doing, unsurprisingly, the room was empty. His room was neat and tidy as always. Documents containing reports from his missions were neatly organized in a cabinet that stood next to his desk, and his bed was well made. With the organization and lack of dust or other trash to be found, one could think that he was never even in there in the first place. And with that, she closed the door.

Maintaining her cheerful mood, she went downstairs and into the living room. Her two units, Lara and Rouche, were lounging there, and she greeted them with a smile. "Good morning you two."

The winged girl looked towards her summoner and returned a smile. "You look cheerful this morning." She remarked.

Valerie nodded. "Yes. Christmas is coming!"

Lara tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Christmas? What's that?" She wondered, not knowing the concept.

The former commander of the first Imperial Guard lowered his book upon the mention of the holiday. "Ah yes, Christmas. It's a wonderful time of year of goodwill and merriment. Where people go out and do charitable things, and spend time with those you care about, whether it's a family or a friend. He laid back on his chair, a warm smile comes over his face as he reminisces some past memories.

Valerie questioned him "Do you still miss your sister?"

"Yes, I do." Rouche sighed. "It's been so long. She would've liked to spend the holidays. It makes me think back to all those moments we've shared as a family" "He let out a small chuckle. "Well, more like drag me into the occasion now that I think about it." Valerie could not help but to chuckle along with him.

"'Spending time with those you care about'..." Lara muttered quietly, still grasping the concept of the holiday. She thought of her patron Goddess. Lady Felice would approve of this holiday. If only she was here, she could see it for herself.

Valerie then changed the subject as she asked her units, "Have any of you seen James? I haven't seen him in his room."

Rouche scratched his head before replying "I believe he went out for another raid quest."

Valerie let out a disappointed sigh. "Of course..." This was to be expected. Whenever the holidays were approaching, he would claim to be more busy than usual. Though she knew better, it was only a ploy to distance himself from the festivities. She knew how much Christmas makes him bitter and remorseful, but to overwork himself, and worse yet his units, during this time was ridiculous. It was hard, trying to look forward to the holidays while having a friend ditch her, only to come back with numerous cuts and bruises to tend to each day.

She was lost in her train of thought when a knock on the door snapped Valerie out of her trance. She walked up the door to answer it. "Yes? Who's the-WAH?!" On the other side of the door was was Sirius, with his armor broken in several places and showing visible signs of bleeding, carrying an exhausted Tora. Valerie quickly picked up the petit disciple and gently placed her on the couch for her to rest. "What happened?"

"T-Too many missions…" She coughed. "I don't know where he gets this energy from…"

"That's what I want to know too," Valerie replied as she began to heal Tora using her magic. In little time at all, her injuries disappeared and she was in a perfect state to walk again. Sirius was the next to be healed. Much like Tora, his injuries faded away and his armor was in pristine condition. "Thank you kindly, Miss Valerie." He thanked her in a polite manner one would expect of someone in a higher social class.

Valerie smiled from the gratitude. "By the way..." she began to ask. "Where is James? Don't tell me he's still at the Summoner's Hall?"

"Unfortunately he is, I am afraid he is requesting for yet another assignment as we speak."

"Why am I not surprised?" She groaned.

"Do you want us to search for him?" Lara asked.

Valerie shook her head. "No, I think it will be a waste of time to track him down. Besides, he'll only run away again."

"What do you propose we should do?" asked Rouche.

Valerie pondered for a moment. "I know! We should host a Christmas party here!" She shouted triumphantly. "It's the perfect way to get into the season and keep everyone's spirits up!"

"Christmas…? What is that?" Tora inquired, becoming the second person who did not know about the holiday.

"Christmas… I know that holiday very well." The Sacred Emperor mused. "A time when the commoners would come together as a family and spread the feeling of charity and gratitude." His explanation was identical to what Rouche described.

"That sounds like a lovely holiday," Tora said enthusiastically.

"Have you celebrated it before?" Valerie inquired to Sirius.

"I am afraid I have not." he shook his head. "With all the duties and responsibilities I and my half-siblings had as being the children of the emperor, we did not have much time to celebrate occasions like these."

"Well, then this may just be the first time you can celebrate it."

"Yes. I have heard many wonderful things about it, I am very excited to see this first hand."

Valerie giggled. "I'm glad the two of you are excited as I am."

"But wait." Rouche intervened. "If you're planning a party, how do you plan to find some guests? And won't we need time to prepare?"

Valerie maintained her smile as she brought him into her room and turned on her computer. She began searching for some candidates within Randall that she might invite. It then showed a list of summoners, all of whom were either youths or young adults that were just about near her age. She then moved towards a stack of colorful stationery cards, decorated with the obligatory wreaths, bells, candy canes or any other symbols that were connected with the holiday. All of them had the pre-typed "You are invited to…" spiel and the address of her home.

"You were planning this for quite a while, didn't you? Rouche inquired.

"Yeah," Valerie replied. "Most Christmases have been anything but merry, and usually involve me chasing James down, but this time, I'll make sure he gets involved!"

"And the decorations…?""

"You, Lara and I will go out to buy them. We can set it up as I planned the party in a few weeks. So we have plenty of time." The tone of her voice showed that she was very confident that her plan would go well. "As for these invitations, I'll have James hand them out. Tora and Sirius will bring them to him."

"And in case he leaves?"

Valerie held up her phone in response. Her phone was opened to a map application that detailed the top-down perspective of Randall. A single red dot was glowing on the map. Unsurprisingly, it was pointing to the Summoner's hall, the exact location where James was.

"You are really on top of things, aren't you?" Rouche chuckled.

Valerie giggled. "Let's just say… I don't have the time for nonsense this Christmas." Placing the invitations into a brown handbag, she quickly stopped by James' room to drop them off before running downstairs. She then asked Tora. "If you do see him, can you bring him back here and make sure he gets some rest?"

"Okay." She nodded. "But won't he just run off again, like you said?"

Valerie lightly patted Tora's head as she maintains her smile. "Then I need you to tell him this." She then whispers something into her ear. "Did you get all that?

"Yes."

"Good to hear." Valerie then faced to her own units. "Lara! Rouche! We have some shopping to do!"

Lara jumped out of her seat as she made her way towards her summoner. "I'm coming!"

The group made their way out of the house, Valerie locked the door behind her and the group split off into different directions.

…

Raid Tavern, Akras Summoners Hall, Elgaia.

"What do you mean there are no contracts available?" A silver-haired man asked the pink-haired receptionist.

"It is as I said, James." She replied. "I'm glad you have a lot of enthusiasm when it comes to these missions, but at this point, I don't think there will be activity any time soon."

James let out a disappointed sigh.

"Cheer up!" the informant chirped. "Since there aren't any demon activities, everyone else can get a break over the holidays!"

"I guess…"

"Besides, any more of this, you might end up becoming on a bunch of summoners' blacklist."

James sighed again. The last thing he wanted was to gain more notoriety, life was already annoying as it is with the many responsibilities he has to deal with, and he certainly doesn't want to fall back down to that road again.

"Get some rest." She said with a concerned tone. "You worked yourself to the bone these last couple of days and I'm sure Valerie must be worried about you."

He did not want to argue. Days of non-stop questing and raiding have taken its toll on him, and it showed. He was not in good shape, his body felt sore in separate places, and lack of sleep has contributed to his current problems. At this point, there was no other option but to do as she said and rest. "I'll… be sure to do that. Thank you, Elise. And please, don't tell Noah that it was me."

"I'll try not to. And Take care!" She waved goodbye.

He waved goodbye as he exited the tavern and out the summoners hall. He found himself walking around the streets of the Imperial Capital, the many passersby were staring at him as he went. With an overall grim appearance and the tears and rips on his clothing from the many contracts he went on, who would not notice it? He paid them no attention as he made his way back to his house.

The streets were filled with decorations for the holidays, passersby were looking very happy, well, some that didn't stare at him were. He could tell they were all excited for the holidays, and it certainly showed. To James, Christmas was one thing he didn't want to celebrate It brought back too many painful memories and was a contributor to some periods of improper sleep at this time. He kept his gaze down, not wanting to see anything, but just high enough so that he could at least see where he was going.

On the way, he encountered his units on the path ahead of him. "What are you two doing here?" he asked. " I thought you two were resting back at the house."

"Valerie told us to pick you up," Tora replied. "She knows you're feeling tired."

"You are in no condition to keep going," Sirius spoke. "Any more of this and-"

James cut him off. " I know, you don't have to remind me. And unfortunately for me, I have no choice in the matter this time."

"And that would be because…?"

"There are no missions at the moment. And I'm being encouraged to rest by other people as well."

"Then let's head back now. You're in bad shape." Tora said as he took him by the arm and supported him. Likewise, Sirius went to the other side and did the same, and the two units helped their summoner make the trip back home.

After a while, James found himself lying down face up on his bed. It was still morning, though, in his current state, he felt a little tired. Still, lying down and doing nothing was beginning to agitate him. What could he possibly do to get his mind off the holidays? He then noticed a handbag resting near his desk and began to examine it. Inside was a large stack of invitations to a Christmas party, with the address of the party being his house. "What's the meaning of this?" James called out to his units.

"Valerie planned a party here to get everyone in the mood," Sirius replied, being the closest unit to his room.

He brought his right palm up to his face to express his disbelief. " And where is she right now?"

"She already went out shopping for supplies, she left just as we left to find you."

James tensed up. The last thing he wanted to deal with is a party of all things. The thought of the amount of mess to clean up and how noisy the party would be made him shudder a little. He didn't want to deal with this As if the holidays was not bad enough, but it could not be helped. He looked at the bag once again and picked it up. "And I assume I have to play as the delivery man?"

Tora walked into the room while replying, "Yes, but she says you can do it tomorrow after you have rested off your injuries."

James set the bag down before flopping onto his bed. "Fine… Just let me rest then." The two units then left the room and closed the door behind him. James stared at the ceiling. _I guess no matter what I do, I'll get pulled into this holiday one way or another. I appreciate what she's trying to do, but doesn't she know some restraint?_ He closed his eyes as he leaned back on his bed. _I may as well do what she says, I can't let her down again, not after the trouble I caused. Once I'm fully recovered, I'll try to find a way to make it up to her and to my units, maybe find a gift or two along the way._ And with that, he suddenly found himself drifting off into sleep, mentally preparing for the challenge that awaited him tomorrow.

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 **First chapter of a series of shorts. One chapter will be uploaded every day until Christmas, so hopefully you all sit tight and enjoy the ride.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Uwaaa! It's snowing~" The young brown haired summoner squealed as she looked outside to see the snowy environment. Her eyes glowed with imaginary stars as she felt excited like children were at a candy store. The fact that Christmas was coming in a matter of weeks helped contributed to her excitement. Not able to contain her excitement any longer, she began to bounce around her house. The fact that no one else lived there except her units, she had no worries about making a racket.

"You seem more cheerful than usual, Yume." a female voice called out from upstairs.

"Yesh." The summoner replied. "Christmas is coming Libera! Aren't you excited?" she asked the woman, who was her unit.

"Wait! Christmas is coming?!" Libera shouted in the same, if not higher but definitely louder, level of excitement as Yume.

"Yesh!"

The two girls couldn't contain their excitement. They wanted to bounce around to spend their excess energy, but luckily, they were both able to calm themselves down before another bouncing marathon could occur.

"So…" Libera began to ask. "What do you want to do today?"

"Hmm…" Yume thought for a second before stating her response. "I wanna walk around, I wanna get some sweets."

"Then walking we shall!"

Yume went to the closet to grab her shoes before heading out into the cold. She was walking alongside her unit, looking at the scenery around her.

"Aren't you cold in that?" Libera asked Yume, which was ironic, considering that Libera herself was only wearing her signature green dress and silver breastplate with gold trimmings.

"Nuu, I'm fine." She responded in the distinct childish tone she usually spoke in. Despite what she had on, the black leggings and the matching colored oversized sweater she had on were just enough to handle to tolerate the temperature. She also did not wear any gloves, but the sleeves of her sweater helped to compensate for it. "Ladeda~" She hummed happily to herself as she walked around the Streets of the Imperial Capital.

The streets were filled with happy people shopping for supplies to prepare for the occasion, lights, ornaments and other bright things decorate the shops. The market district was much noisier and more packed than usual, Yume kept close to her unit so as to not get separated. Unlike the energetic self that she was just moments ago, she remained quiet, feeling uncomfortable being near so many strangers. Even now, with the area giving a pleasant Christmas feeling to it, she still wanted to jump for joy. Her eyes lit up as bright as the many lights decorated on the stores as she looked at the many shops, the bakeries, and cafes in particular. The many baked goods on display made her mouth water, her sweet tooth was acting up again.

Libera looked to her summoner, then to one of the nearby bakeries, and then back to her summoner again. "I know that face, you want to go inside, don't you?"

"Mmhmm." Yume nodded her head eagerly.

"Then let's go inside!" The two began to walk into one of the bakeries and were greeted with a delicious aroma. The shop smelt of freshly baked bread, cookies and other baked goods. The sweet smell of icing and frosting, in particular, filled her with delight, she began to drool a little as she browsed through the selections the bakery had to offer. "I dunno what to pick..." She was at a loss as to what she could get, they all looked very delicious. After a few minutes worth of browsing and a few more internal dilemmas, she decided to buy a box of cookies that were individually decorated with different Christmas symbols with frosting.

She brought the box to the counter to pay for it, and the clerk was more than happy to make the transaction. "Merry Christmas!" the clerk said as Yume prepared to leave the shop. She looked back and gave the clerk a smile before heading out, the box of cookies in hand. The box felt warm, no doubt the cookies were made only recently. Libera followed suit as the two resumed their stroll around Randall. Yume could barely contain the urge to eat the cookies but there was no way she could do so out here, she did not want to accidentally spill any out here.

She looked around to see if there was a good stop to sit down in when her eyes looked towards the exterior of an indoor garden. Thinking that she might find some peace and quiet, she began to walk towards the indoor garden along with Libera. Fortunately for Yume, the garden was not packed like the streets outside. The only sound that filled the air were the hums of the heater and the occasional rustling of leaves from the plethora of plants that were housed in there. She traversed through the corridors along with her unit, admiring the maintenance of the plants and took in the quiet and tranquil atmosphere.

She then came across a set of windows that showed a wide courtyard in the middle of the building. Unlike everything else outside, the patio, tables, and chairs were free of snow. Since there was no one sitting out there, the two walked out towards the courtyard and sat at a table. Feeling much more comfortable, Yume opened up the box of cookies and began to eat them one by one.

The area was surrounded by plants she did not recognize, but the fact that they did not wither from the cold intrigued her.

"How do they do that?" Yume wondered.

"Do what?" Asked Libera.

"They're still green… even in the cold…" She looked at the plants with curiosity.

"Some plants are naturally resistant to the cold." Libera chuckled. "I don't know how they actually work, but that's nature for you."

"So cool~" Yume continued to stare at the plants, all the while she was still eating cookies nonstop. When the number of cookies dwindled down to one, she suddenly felt full. "Awww~ I wanted to eat more… but I'm stuffed…" She said in a disappointed tone.

"Well, you shouldn't have eaten so many in such short time," said Libera. "How about we walk this off. Besides, at least you save the last one for later."

"Fine…" Yume whined. She did not feel like moving around too much. If anything, she would rather be in her bed, napping all day. As beautiful as the scenery was, she began to regret going outside. She has already walked so far from her home that it was going to be a chore making the trip back, but at least she could still continue to admire the snow for the time being. Yume closed the box of cookies and proceeded to exit the indoor garden with Libera.

They began to walk around Randall once more, this time taking a more scenic route as they decided to stroll in the park. The view was more beautiful in comparison to the suburban setting, maybe it was because it was not as noisy in the park, or maybe it was because of how the snow covered ground literally looked like a blanket. Speaking of blankets, the thought of it made her eyes a little heavy. In fact, she felt a little tired as she let out a yawn.

Libera took notice of this and asked, "Do you feel tired?"

"Nuu." Replied Yume. "I'm fine…" She yawned again before falling face up on the snow.

"Wait! Yume! This is not a good place to sleep!"

Yume didn't really care as she began to snore, all the while she flapped her arms about and left an indentation in the snow that resembled that of an angel. Libera giggled at the sight, Yume's childish mannerisms were rather adorable. She looked around the park, spotting groups of children either building snowmen, having a snowball war, playing at a nearby park, or doing the same thing Yume was doing and making snow angels. The atmosphere made her feel very happy, the memory of the suicide mission that was the Ishgria Expedition was the last thing she thought for now. All she felt right now was the pleasant sense of being alive again as a unit, and the older sister like responsibility toward her summoner.

This feeling was interrupted, however, by the distant sound of a child crying. The sound was enough to wake Yume up from her sleep and she slowly got up. "Crying?" She wondered as she looked towards the direction of the sound. She spotted a little girl crying as she stood underneath a tree. The pair walked up to the girl to figure what was wrong. "Why are you crying?" Yume asked.

The girl looked up with tears in her eyes. "Mama… I can't find Mama…" She said between sniffs.

The pair looked at each other for a second before looking back to the girl. Libera knelt down and looked at her at eye-level and helped wipe away her tears. She then asked, "Do you remember where you saw her last?"

The girl shook her head. "N-No…"

Yume thought for a moment. "Is she at the park?"

The girl shook her head again. "We were walking… It got crowded and then I got lost…"

"Did you come here because you thought she would be here?"

"Yeah." The girl nodded. "She told me if we ever got separated, we meet here by this tree. But she never came…" The girl seemed ready to cry again.

"Nu! Don't cry!" Yume exclaimed. "She'll come here! I'm sure of it!"

The girl stopped crying. "You think so?"

"Yesh!" Yume smiled. "How about we build a snowman while we wait?"

The girl's eyes widened at the idea. "Yes!" she cried.

The two began to gather up some snow before rolling them along the ground. Trying to see who can make the biggest snowball. Libera then joined in on the fun as she too began to create a snowball. After a while, the three large snowballs stacked upon one another, forming a snowman. The little girl grabbed a few twigs for arms, while Yume and Libera grabbed some pebbles for the eyes and mouth.

The end result was, needless to say, satisfactory. If there were more items they could have used some as decorations, but to the girl, it was perfect. She looked very happy, her sorrow seemed to have completely vanished as if she completely forgot about her predicament. The fact Yume she made someone smile, it made her feel a little warm inside. The girl then sniffed the air. "Ooh. Something smells good." She said. Yume looked around to see where the smell was coming from, when she looked to the girl, she was staring right at her. She knew what she was smelling. Yume reluctantly took out the box from her pocket, the box that held the last cookie. The girl's eyes widened. "You have cookies?!" she asked eagerly.

"U-Umm… I was going to eat it later…" Yume said.

"Oh…" the girl said, her tone showed that seemed a little disappointed. "It's alright, though, It's yours, right?" The girl's expression shifted back into a smile again.

Yume felt glad that the girl was not feeling bitter over it, and she could still have the cookie later. Still, it felt wrong that she had the cookie all to herself, and the last one no less. She wanted to keep the girl's spirits up while she waited for her mother. So, she held out the small box to her. "Here."

"I-I can't take that." The girl stammered. "That's yours!"

"Nuu." Yume shook her head. "You can have it. I can always buy more later."

The girl's eyes widened with glee as she happily took the box. "Thank you! She cried as she pulls out the cookie and eats it. The joyful look on her face felt a bit contagious, and Yume could not help but smile as well. There was something about sharing that made the warm feeling all the more pleasant.

"Eve!" A woman's voice cried out. "Eve! Where are you?"

The girl turned towards the direction of the voice, whom she was able to recognize as her mother. "Mama!" She yelled back while waving at her.

The woman ran up to her daughter and pulled her into an embrace. "Eve. Thank the gods you're safe. Did anyone try to hurt you?"

"Nope!" She replied. "But I made a new friend!"

"A friend?" The mother looked at her daughter with a puzzled look. Eve pointed towards Yume and Libera, who were standing nearby. The mother then turned to the pair and asked. "Was she any trouble?"

"She was no trouble at all," Libera replied. "She said that she waited for you by the tree. She was crying, so we cheered her up."

"I'm glad she was able to find our meeting place. The mother sighed with relief. She then looked to the snowman that stood nearby the tree. "And it seems you three had fun together?"

"Yesh!" Yume nodded. "We had lots of fun!"

"Yeah!" Eve chimed in.

"In any case, thank you for looking after my daughter." The mother smiled. "Might I know your names?"

Yume nodded as she began to introduce herself. "My name is Yume, and that's Libera, my unit."

"It was a pleasure to watch over your daughter." Libera bowed. "She was full of energy."

"Oh, she is." The mother chuckled before turning back to her daughter. "Let's go now Eve, we still have to get your presents as well." She said as she held Eve's hand.

"Yay!" She shouted. Just as she was walking with her mother, she looked back momentarily to wave the two goodbye. "Thank you for everything! I hope we see each other again!" Libera and Yume waved back with smiles on their faces as the two left the park, each pair going their separate ways.

After a while, the pair makes it back to their warm, cozy home much to Yume's delight. The first thing she did was to walk towards her bedroom and lie down. Hours of walking around Randall had taken its toll, and she was still very tired. Yume looked up at the ceiling, still smiling from the good deed she had just done. Libera stood next to her as she helped tuck her into bed. "What you did back there was very kind," She said. Yume simply snored as she quickly drifted off to sleep, hugging a pillow as she snuggles under her blanket. Libera smiled as she goes to turn off the lights. "Sweet dreams" She whispered to her summoner before quietly closing the door, allowing her to sleep in peace.

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 **Yume belongs to Curiously A Theory. I hope this chapter was good.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here comes another one, hope you all enjoy!**

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"Hmm… maybe it should go like this?" The white-haired woman muttered as she scribbled some music notes on a staff sheet. She hummed out the notes to test to see how well it played out, needless to say, it did not sound as well as she hoped. "Tsk. this is all wrong. Perhaps the tempo may be off? Or is it the notes themselves?" She was at a loss as to what kind of changes she should make in her music. Her talent in playing the cello was her forte. Anything music related, whether playing or listening to it, has become her past time as of late. Training in the art of manipulating dark and light energy was a priority, but that would quickly tire her out, especially when she would attempt to hone her light-based skills. As much as she wanted to destroy the demon that destroyed her home, but there were days she would want to distract herself from that desire as those thoughts proved to be detrimental when it came to training.

Recently, she had decided to go back songwriting to see how that would fare, though it felt more like a chore than usual. She sighed as she places the half filled staff sheets into a folder and places it over to the side. "This is proving to be more troublesome than I thought…" She muttered quietly. "I'll stop for now, I don't want to get too stumped on this."

"Trying to acquire new skills, are we?" A female voice called out from behind her. The woman turned to see her unit, an older blonde woman with two orange braids, leaning against the wall near the door. She wore a revealing purple dress under a thin black coat with gold outlining and wore a small headdress with a similar color scheme. Her blood-red eyes and a set of orange horns on her head signify her demonic nature. She had a smirk on her face as if mocking the white-haired woman.

"Oh shut it, Rize" She rebuked her unit.

The demon chuckled. "There is no reason to be like that." She said to her summoner. By the tone of her voice, it was hard to tell if she was joking or being condescending. She knew Rize was always like this, but ever since she evolved her into her omni evolution stage, she developed a more, with lack of better terms, "annoying" attitude. "After all, I'm sure you know what holiday is coming up, Sakura."

Sakura, known by her epithet in the summoner's hall as the Abyssal Scythe Wielder, silently stood still for a moment, she was well aware that Christmas was getting close, but she did not want to show it, lest she gets another snarky comment from Rize. Then again, Rize knew her all too well, her silence would still signal her affection towards the holidays. This was confirmed as her unit had that same condescending smirk on her face, her smile grew wider by the second. Sakura sighed as she began to get up from her chair and pushed it towards her desk.

"That being said, I'm sure you would want to prepare for the festivities?" Rize said. 'Festivities'. She did not think of it as a festivity, rather, more of a time of leisure. She looked out from her window to see the bustling streets of Randall before. "I think a walk will suffice." Said Sakura. "It would be a shame to spend a lovely day like this indoors."

"That I can agree with," replied Rize. "I'll let you get changed then." She left the room and closed the door behind Sakura, giving her some privacy. Sakura closed the blinds before proceeding from her pajamas to her usual attire, a sleeveless buttoned up dress paired with black stockings that had an overall monochromatic color scheme. She looked to her right wrist, it bore some odd silver markings: a symbol of her ability to wield the light element and her reason to get stronger. No, not today. She shook her head as she picked up a rose opal bracelet from her desk and puts it over her wrist, hiding the marking. She then took out a long white coat and buttoned it up. She also took a black scarf with silver linings and looped it around her neck and tied it to a bow. For this occasion, she simply decided to leave her hair loose, despite it being very long to the point where it reached to her mid-calves and headed downstairs to prepare for her stroll.

She met Rize in the living room, along with another unit. This one was a male who wore dark clothes that were ornately decorated and a cape lined with dark green feathers. He had long silver hair with some thin red strands, and, like Rize, had horns sticking from his head albeit being of a gold and black colored. He was reading a book, presumably, a random drama story, using one of his absurdly long nails to flip the pages. He did not bother to glance up as he asked, "Heading out?"

"I'm going out for a stroll" Sakura replied. " Care to join me?"

The male demon placed a bookmark on the page he stopped at and put the book on a nearby table before walking up to his summoner. "I suppose a walk will do some good." He said in his usual quiet tone. Sakura turned to Rize, who nodded, signaling that they were reading to head out. Putting on her boots and grabbing a notebook from a nearby shelf, she walked out the door. Once the two units had made their way outside, she locked the door behind her, and the trio made their way into Randall.

The sky was clear and a cool breeze was blowing, it was not snowing today, but there was plenty covering the ground and rooftops. It was midday when she came out, so it was unsurprising that the streets were packed and bustling with merchants advertising holiday sales and customers eagerly buying decorations, gifts or just the usual daily necessities. It was very disruptive, any sane individual would be sick of the noise; Sakura, however, did not mind the racket. In fact, she actually enjoyed the setting, the cheerful looks on the people's faces as they showed their optimism towards the holiday made her feel happy about it as well. As much as she loved the holidays, she did her best not to show it. She needed to maintain a calm and collected exterior. She viewed a break in character as a weakness, it has become her ideology to never let her guard down or show any form of weakness regardless if she was out on a mission or not. Nonetheless, she continued her stroll, tolerant to the busy atmosphere.

Though... If there was one thing she had a hard time tolerating, it would be the ever annoying commotion of children playing out on the streets. She saw a couple of them going around, laughing throwing snowballs at each other. She did her best to not lose her composure, mentally uttering meditative phrases to distract herself. This proved fruitless, however, as one stray snowball was sent flying, and hit her on her right cheek. "Sorry!" A little boy called out as he apologized. Sakura turned to face the boy, her eyes squinted down to a glare as she looked at the small group of children. Their first instinct was to back away, knowing very well that not all people would take this sort of thing lightly. Sakura wanted to berate the children for their foolishness, but she managed to suppress her feelings and she became less tense. "It's fine." She said to the boy. "Carry on. Don't mind me, I'm just out on a stroll"

"Yay!" The children cried, and they resumed their snowball fight as Sakura continued her stroll with her units.

"At least you managed to keep your composure," Aaron remarked as he continued to observe the scene around him.

Sakura simply sighed in response. She did not want to ruin their fun, but that did not erase the disdain she had for children in general. Other than their irritating noises, their ignorance to the world around them, being blissfully unaware of the wickedness and potential dangers around them, she found that trait to be a weakness. How can one survive in this world if they are not mentally prepared for the evil that had a perpetual grip over the world? At the same time, she felt a little envious, would she had been a different person than she is now if she had some shred of childlike innocence? Knowing she was thinking too deeply about this, she kept her focus on her walk and pushes those thoughts aside.

The setting remained the same throughout, The flashing of the decorations that lined the row of shops she passed, and the near incessant chatter of the masses continued to fill the air. As much as she liked this setting, she could not help but feel… nostalgic. The setting around her made her remember all the moments she had with her family prior to that fateful day. It felt painful to recall those memories. Once again thoughts began to fill her head to the point where it became hard to focus on her stroll.

Rize had noticed this for a while and looked around for a place to sit down at. Her eyes focused towards one of the nearby benches. "Why don't we relax for a bit?" She suggested. "I'm sure you have a creative streak coming." She reminds her summoner that she brought her notebook with her. Sakura nodded as she walked towards the bench and sat down. She flipped the notebook open and took a pencil out. She flipped through the pages, which either contained sketches of different landscapes or a list of ideas that helped her in her songwriting. She looked up at the street in front of her for a few moments before beginning to her sketch. She scribbled on the empty page as she attempts to recreate the setting, occasionally looking up to make sure she had the details right.

Aaron in the meantime looked at his surroundings, still in his usual somber tone. "I don't get all of this." Aaron sighed. "What's the point to the holidays anyway? Won't everything return to the same thing as it was before once it's over? Why dedicate so much to something that lasts only for one day?"

"Even humans need some sort of respite in their daily troubles, Aaron," Rize replied. "I still do not understand any of this myself, but there is something about this particular season that helps bring them together, don't you think?"

"I guess," Aaron muttered. "And to think you would be more lively after you evolved, Rize. Back then you wouldn't even bother celebrating Christmas. In fact, you didn't care about anything at all."

Rize leaned against a wall."Perhaps. I will admit after evolving to this state, I felt as if I've softened a little. I still don't care for this holiday, but I've come to tolerate it."

Aaron uttered a slight chuckle. "Was it because of our summoner?"

"We both know how she is to people who do not appreciate the holidays." Rize chuckled back.

"You two better not be talking about me behind my back," Sakura said as she continued her sketch, fully aware of their conversation.

"Still as sharp as ever," Rize muttered under her breath.

Aaron continued to look at the passerby, the families in particular. Seeing this made him more wistful. I doubt Brother would care about these things… he thought. But I wonder how it would be if he were to be here right now? Nah. He would most likely want to have another excuse to exercise his superiority.

After a while, Sakura completed her sketch of the row of shops in front of her. Her skill had not dulled a bit, she managed to cover most of the details of the scenery, including the Christmas decorations that covered the area and the patches of snow that littered around the street. She closed her book, as she fulfilled the need to do something productive today. "Let's continue walking,," she said to her units. The two demons nodded and resumed their leisurely stroll.

They aimlessly walked around Randall with no particular destination in mind, though Sakura decided to visit areas within the imperial capital she had yet to venture in. The setting remained the same throughout, there appeared to be no difference to the new areas she had visited compared to those she had previously seen. Same types of shops, same type of residences. As much as she wanted to explore new places, she was beginning to think that this walk was a waste of time. "We're heading back," Sakura said.

"Already?" asked Rize.

"There is nothing here that I have not seen already. Besides, I was able to get some inspiration for my songwriting, so that is good enough for me."

"Whatever you say." Aaron shrugged as the three began to walk back.

The sky began to darken, the sun was setting and the streets were not as packed and it was not as noisy compared to how it was earlier. Only the streetlights and the lights coming from the various houses and shops along with the decorations became the only light source. Sakura found this to be more relaxing, she found it easier to relax in a calm atmosphere. Of course, there were still a bit of chattering here and there, but this volume was adequate. She found herself nearing the end of the market district when a scream in the distance signaled her to stop.

"Go away!" The voice appeared to come from that of a little boy's.

"Should we check it out?" Aaron asked.

Sakura sighed. "Fine. But I swear if this becomes a waste of my time…" She trailed off mid-sentence as she began walking towards the source of the scream. She followed the noise, still looking rather bitter about the situation as she was under the assumption the child in question was bullied or something along those lines. When she came across the scene, she was correct, but not in a way she had guessed.

In the alleyway, three rugged looking males cornered a young boy in ragged clothes who held a tin can.

"We're just asking nicely," said the first. "We only need some zel to buy ourselves some gifts."

The second one chimed in. "Yeah! No need to be stingy about it kid!"

"'Tis the season of goodwill' and what not!" The third shouted.

The boy held the can tightly as he curled up into a ball. "No! I need this zel!" he shouted, remaining defiant.

"Look at that! The widdle boy is being brave!" the first man mocked. The other two laughed along with him.

Sakura looked at the scene with an impassive expression. A part of her wanted to let the scene play out, and let the child learn the harsh reality of the world, but another part of her compelled her to interfere, to help the boy. She knew that if she let things be, she would be just as responsible for this boy's predicament as the males. And the way the third male described Christmas made her blood boil, she did not need to waste time to confirm her choice. With a sigh, she called out. "Bullying on little kids now? How low can a person go?"

"Bullying?" The third replied. "We're just playing around with the lad."

"He's a lonely one." Said the second. "We're keeping him company until his parents come back."

Simpletons. "Did you seriously believe I am that gullible?" She scoffed. "I am not that foolish."

The male closest to the boy began to laugh. "A big shot, eh? Get 'er boys!" He instructed the other two, who pulled out a couple of knives as they charged at Sakura.

Not saying a word, she snapped her fingers, signaling her units to make their moves. Aaron summoned a butterfly with his abilities, intercepting the first of the muggers. Simultaneously, Rize summons a bolt of lightning to stop the other. The two looked up to see the units glaring down on them.

"Ah cripes! She's a summoner!" one of the muggers cried as he began to flee, the other dropped his knife and followed suit.

"A bunch of bloody cowards!" The last one spat as he picked up the boy, put him in a chokehold and held a knife towards his throat. "Nobody move!" he exclaimed. "Or else the little one gets it!" The boy shut his eyes tightly as he continued to hold the tin can in his arms. It was obvious that he was scared, he feared for his life. A shadow casts over Sakura's eyes as she began to walk towards the mugger. "I'm warning you!" He shouted again, the blade of the knife now just mere inches away from his neck. Sakura kept walking towards the man as an unsettlingly slow pace, her unflinching glare still focused on him as she summoned her scythe. Seeing this, the man's kept a firm grip on the boy, hoping he could still try to get her to submit to his demands. She still didn't relent, she could clearly see the mugger trembling, as well as the boy. "How about I give my proposition?" Her tone became as chilling as the winter air around her. "You let the boy go, and I spare you. After all, there is nothing to be gained if I killed you here, now is there?"

"Y-You're bluffing!" The mugger retorted, trying to keep a calm facade. "If you kill me, then what will the Summoner's Hall think of you? They'll have your head as well!" He felt confident, knowing he had her on the ropes. Even summoners have to listen to their superiors. This brief moment of confidence, however, faded as Sakura simply scoffed. "Maybe they will, maybe they won't. Perhaps we can test your theory here?" she said as she raised her scythe and pointed at the mugger, her piercing pink eyes glared at the man with a remorseless and malicious gaze. It was then the man had lost all courage to keep this act going, letting go of the kid and running off into the shadows. After all was said and done, Sakura became less tense, her scythe disappeared as she walked up to the boy, who still looked scared after her display of intimidation.

"Are you okay?" She asked him, her tone was much different than before, it sounded rather warm and soothing, fitting to lighten the mood after what has transpired.

"I-I'm fine…" The boy stammered. "Y-You're not going to hurt me too, a-are you?"

Sakura sighed as she held her hand out towards him. "Relax, I won't harm you. Why are you out here anyhow? It's not safe to be out in this weather, especially this late at night."

"W-well you see…" The boy explained his predicament to Sakura, how his family became poor and were forced to live off on what they could get. With his parents frantically trying to find a job to help sustain themselves, they had little time to take care of him. He was out on the street trying to get enough zel to buy enough food to support his family, but with little luck. She could not help but to feel sympathetic for the child, having to deal with hardship. Unlike her, who had to deal with the burden of losing her parents, he had the burden of keeping his family alive. "Well, regardless…" She began. "I am sure your parents must be worried sick about you. I'll help you get home."

"Really?" The boy looked up to Sakura with hopeful eyes.

"Come on now." She held the boy's hand. "You can lead the way."

"Alright." The two began to make the short trip towards the part of Randall she had yet to set foot in. This particular neighborhood had broken down houses that clearly showed signs of lack of maintenance. The overall atmosphere was more gloomy compared to the rest of Randall, but there were a few Christmas decorations set outside some of the porches, albeit not as flashy. Surely, this place was desolate, how had she not seen this side of the city before? "Well… This is the place." The boy pointed to a one-storey brick house that was in a similar state like the rest of the houses in the district. "Thanks for saving me, I gotta go. My parents are waiting for me." He was about to run back to his house when Sakura quickly stopped him. "Hold on."

"What is it?" He asked her.

Sakura then took out a pouch containing a substantial amount of zel. Needless to say, it was much more than the boy had in that tin can. His eyes widened with surprise. "A-Are you sure you want me to have this? This is quite a lot…"

She shook her head. "It's fine, you need it more than I do. Besides, I can always find a way to get more, so there is no need to be concerned."

The boy bowed. "Thanks a lot, miss! Merry Christmas!" He waved goodbye to her before running back to his house.

"Merry Christmas." Sakura waved back to the boy as she saw him off. Though the interior is dim to the point where one cannot see what goes inside, the muffled cheerful cries of the family living inside made Sakura feel warm inside. She could not help but to let out a faint smile.

"Oh? Is that a smile I see?" Rize said as she stood beside her summoner.

Sakura's eyes widened, becoming flustered by Rize's sudden appearance. "N-No it wasn't…" She quickly tried to regain her composure, but the damage was already done. "C-Come on! We're going home!" She hid most of her face with her scarf to hide her embarrassment as she began to walk at a brisk pace towards the direction of her home. Rize still had a condescending grin on her face as she began to follow. _I guess there are some qualities that won't die that easily…_ She thought.

Aaron looked towards the house and stared at it for a bit. _So it's not just being happy, but to share that happiness with others?_ He thought. _Is this the point of the holiday?_ He then followed the other two back home, this newfound observation still fresh in his mind.

* * *

 **The OC Sakura Akemi belongs to TheRunAwayPanda. I hope this chapter is to your liking. To the rest of you, there's more to come, so follow if you'd like.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

Another day has passed, and much to the fortune for most, the weather was still lovely, and the anticipation for Christmas is still as present as ever. It was a rather lively morning in the Rex residence, with the twins going about their usual routine while their units minded their own business. Ace was much more energetic than usual, which was saying something as he was always hyperactive. He was decorating the Christmas tree in the corner of the living room with Vargas, with the latter being more careful due to being a fire elemental. Ace was humming to himself as he placed the star on the top of the tree. "There! That's looking nicely." He said as he marveled at the finished product.

Vargas put on the last of the ornaments on the tree and backed up to get a better view of the tree. "I'll say. At least we managed to get this done."

"Yep!" Ace hopped off the ladder and walked towards the table and picked up another box. "Welp, time to decorate the rest of the house."

"You're really into this, aren't you?" Vargas chuckled.

"Tell me something I don't know!" Ace replied as he dropped the box in front of Vargas' feet. "I need you to decorate the outside of the house. Can you do that?"

"Alright, this won't take long." Vargas took the box and proceeded to go outside. Ace in the meantime took a garland from the box and began to decorate the living room with them and wrapped a couple on the tree. "Phew. Ace wiped some sweat after finishing the rest of the decorations. All that needed to be done now was to hang up the stockings by the fireplace. From the same box, he pulled out two stockings, one blue and the other white to represent him and his sister, Evelyne. Now that he thought about it, he has yet to see her as of now. "Oi!" he shouted. "Anyone see Evy?"

"Why don't you check her room?" A female voice suggested.

"Seriously? Jeez, She must be studying again…" Ace groaned. "Ah well, Imma drag her out here. Thanks, Lava!" He waved to the unit before running up the stairs.

A blond-haired woman was in her study room, researching numerous tomes she had acquired over the years. Written in languages and in jargon that would not be understood by the layperson and revolved around subjects that would take years to comprehend. She only reached about halfway through the new grimoire that she had begun reading recently when loud banging from her door broke her concentration. Irritated, she set the book on her desk and stomped toward the door. She did not need to think to figure out who was at the door. "What is it, Ace?" She asked him.

"What are you doing all holed up in there? Help me out with the decorations!" Ace shouted.

"I don't have time for games. I'm busy with my own things. Now if you would be kind as to leave me alone-" She was suddenly cut off by Ace.

"'Fraid not! You're getting out here whether you like it or not!" He shouted. A noticeable rattling noise can be heard from the doorknob as he attempts to pick the lock.

Drat. Evy thought. She looked around the room to see if there was a good place she could use as a hiding spot. There was no place she could hide in that Ace would not bother checking, this left her with one option: the window. Knowing there was no other place she could go to, she quickly moved the blinds and opened up the window. Luckily, she did not need to worry about jumping from a distance like this, after all, a fall like this would not kill her, especially if she could land in that shrub just a story below. The rattling grew louder as Ace was close to breaking the lock, knowing she was running out of time, she jumped out of the window, only to get her right foot tangled by a hanging cord of the lights. "Who left this here?" she growled as she hangs upside down.

"Sorry! Shouted Vargas as he too hung upside down, but at a different corner of the houses exterior. Unlike Evelyne, however, The cords wrapped around his entire body like a cocoon and was unable to move. Luckily for her, despite her situation, she was wearing pants, so it made her predicament less embarrassing; though this meant she was going to deal with of Ace's holiday madness.

"Quit hanging around!" Ace shouted from the window, seeing Evelyne in her predicament. He pulled on the cord, bringing her back up and into the room. "I have a clue on what to get you guys! And you're coming with me!" He pointed at Evelyne, who was unraveling the cord around her leg.

"Why do I have to go with you? You have Vargas and Ninmah, they should be enough if you're just out getting gifts."

"And leave you stuck in here all day? Hell no!" He shouted. "Oh yeah! Speaking of Ninmah, I should let her know too! I'll be right back!" Ace sprinted out of the room as he looked for his other unit. Evelyne sighed as she slowly got up. So much for a quiet day of research… she thought as she grabbed her white coat, resigning to her fate.

…

Meanwhile, Vargas was still trapped outside, swinging on the side of the roof like a pendulum as he tried to break free of his bindings. "Having some trouble I see?" A female voice asked from below, the slight snarkiness of the tone gave him a clue of who was calling out to him. Unfortunately, he knew that voice all too well. "Oh shut up Lava," he whined.

The Agni swordswoman uttered a slight giggle as a set of wings made from pure flame erupted on her back. She flew up towards the trapped knight and unraveled the cord that wrapped around him, he the fell onto a small mound of snow headfirst, which made her utter yet another giggle.

"Ha ha. Very funny." He retorted with a muffled voice. His head came out of the mound, leaving a rather crude indentation of his face in the snow. Lava was about to laugh again, but she manages to keep it in. Vargas looked toward his sworn rival with a rather comical glare before patting the snow off his armor. Saying nothing else, he walked back towards the house with no complaint, which surprised Lava. "No comeback? Usually, you would be yelling about how you don't want me to be a step ahead of you or off training right now."

Vargas shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I do." He beamed a smile. "But since Christmas is coming, I wanted to wind down a little."

Lava looked at him dumbfounded. "'Christmas'? What are you going on about?"

Vargas' eyes widened with shock. "WHAT?! You don't know what Christmas is?! Do you at least have a clue what a holiday is?"

"I do not." Replied Lava. "In fact, I don't even believe in such things."

Vargas knew Lava was a serious individual who had little concern over trivial things. When she progressed in her evolutionary stages, though, she was not as cold as the woman he faced for the first time. He never thought he would hear her laugh, let alone a giggle. He also got to understand her a little more, in fact, they both had common ground, both were soldiers working for the same empire and sought to seek more power in order to surpass their limits. But their reasons for attaining that power and contrast in personality made them opposite sides of the same coin. He did not know about her being a byproduct of the Agni Empire's top-secret experiment nor of the intense training she had gone through to become the super soldier he met back then. Then again, he did not know much about her to begin with, other than the fact she was a swordswoman of a higher caliber than he was.

Vargas quickly grabbed Lava by the hand and began pulling her along as he went back into the house.

"Wh-What are you doing?!" She cried, taken aback by the sudden pull.

"We need to get you in the holiday spirit!" Vargas replied, having the same enthusiasm as his summoner.

At this point, Lava decided to see how things would play out. Maybe there might be some merit to this holiday… She thought to herself.

...

Back in the house, Ace was running around to look for his other unit. Finally stopping at a large set of doors, he began to knock on the door in the same manner as he did with Evy. "Come in." Another female voice answered. Unlike before, the tone was much more relaxed. He opened the door and entered a very spacious room. In the middle was a dark skinned silver-haired woman who sat down in a meditative position, her spear rested beside her. Her decorative yet revealing clothes and the headdress she wore gave her the appearance of royalty from ancient times. she turned around to face her summoner, revealing a pair of golden eyes. "What is it that you need of me?" She asked Ace.

"Come on!" He shouted, waving by the door. "I need to get everyone out here if we're going to do some Christmas shopping!"

The Noblesse's moon blinked twice and cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Christmas?" She asked, not knowing of the concept.

Ace scratched his head. "Oh yeah, I don't think you know about it yet. I'll show you what it's about, in the meantime, get Enki as well. I want him to join on the fun!" And with that, he left the room. Ninmah stood up and picked up her spear as she went over to the room where the man known as the Kingdom Destroyer was, loud snoring be heard from the other side of the door. She knocked on the door a few times, the loud snorting on the other end signaled her that she got his attention.

The door opened, revealing a large, muscular man whose hair and eyes were similar to hers, his skin was pale and he wore a set of armor that consisted of stone and bones. A greatsword rested at the corner, its composition was just as primitive as his armor. That, along with a helmet whose appearance looked very reminiscent to that of a beast's maw, gave him a savage appearance. "Huh? Ninmah?" he said as he wiped his eyes. "What is going on?"

"My summoner wanted us to go outside with him. He mentioned some sort of tradition, I believe he called it 'Christmas'"

"'Christmas?'" Enki scratched his head. "What kind of celebration is that?"

"I do not know, but the thought of a new celebration intrigues me…" She said, the thought of a new celebration she had never heard of piqued her interest.

"Whatever you say…" said Enki. "Let's see what this 'Christmas' has to offer."

The group of six headed out and made their way towards Randall's shopping district, entering a mall in hopes of obtaining more supplies. Evelyne had a mildly irritated look on her face, having to be dragged out so suddenly out of her research for something she could honestly care less about. Ace still had his usual goofy smile, looking at all the shops to see where he could buy the gifts he had planned out for everyone. They then walked over to the central plaza to plan on what to do next. "Welp, time to find some gifts!" Ace announced. He then turned over to his units. "As for you guys, do whatever you want! Sightsee, buy something, anything that'll keep you guys happy. Just don't cause any trouble while we're away, alright?" The group nodded, prompting Ace to run towards the shops with a disappointed Evelyne trailing behind him, leaving his units to their own devices.

Ninmah looked towards Vargas and asked. "Is there a-" She was about to complete her sentence, but Vargas had already left, with a rather confused Lava in tow.

"Where are you taking me?" Lava asked, still being pulled by Vargas.

"Didn't you hear what Ace said?" Vargas replied. "We're going sightseeing!"

"I don't see the point to all this."

"Just getting you into the mood!" He said as he pulled her into yet another row of shops in the shopping district.

Ninmah was in the same state of confusion herself, unsure about what to do at the moment. "So, what now?" Enki asked as he looks at the scenery around him. Ninmah did the same before beginning to walk. "Hey! Don't wander off like that!" Shouted Enki as he ran up to catch up.

The scenery was something else. Ninmah was completely captivated by the bustle and jolly atmosphere around her, taken in by the lights and colors of the abundance of decorations along the row of stores. Never before had she seen anything like this, the world certainly had changed in comparison to the life she had lived back then; the population, architecture and the way society had worked overall were all new to her; but, this newfound holiday certainly was the most interesting. She recalled seeing similar festivities back in her kingdom, but never on a magnitude like this. She could sense that the spirits were in agreement to this, as she could see them dancing with the falling snow.

Enki walked alongside Ninmah taking in the atmosphere along with her. He looked at the smiling faces of the many passersby, though ignoring some that were staring at him like he was some sort of foreigner. The laughing of the children and the cheerful ambiance spurred a sense of nostalgia within him, memories of his life in the village began to resurface, albeit vague. The warm feeling of being among familiar people comforted him, but the painful memory of seeing his village wiped out prevented him from forming a smile. The loss of his family broke him, and he bore a deep, undeniable hatred toward those who were responsible. Ninmah may have belonged to the very kingdom that brought him suffering, but it is with her he finds himself able to find respite amongst the suffering of his past and the incessant torment from the spirits. Seeing as some couples that walked by held hands, he decided to do the same and held Ninmah's hand.

She looked up at him, wondering what was with the sudden gesture, Enki didn't say a word, but the warm feeling he gave off along with the tender grip showed her that he was just as immersed in the atmosphere as she was. Smiling, she kept close to him as the two began to explore the streets of Randall.

Everywhere they went, it was flashy decorations, the sound of unfamiliar jingles and the commotion of the people. The pair looked around with some curiosity, becoming more immersed into the culture by the minute. "Everything is so lively here…" Ninmah said as she continued to observe the scene around her. Enki did the same, the sight of family and strangers alike getting along, the happy faces all around, it filled him a sense of intrigue. This 'Christmas'… Would a celebration like this help me rebuild my clan? He thought, thinking of the practicality of the holiday. More and more, he warmed up to the idea, if a holiday like this could bring so many people together, perhaps it was possible. His musing was interrupted by the sound of a distant explosion not too far from where Enki and Ninmah were. The once calm atmosphere turned chaotic as many citizens began to flee from the vicinity. "Do you think something might have happened?" Ninmah asked.

"Sounds like it, I'm going to figure out what's going on." He let go of Ninmah's hand and began running toward the source of the racket.

"Wait!" Ninmah shouted. "We should wait for the others!" Enki ignored her as his pace quickened, now sprinting toward the source of the racket himself. "Great… I have to let my summoner know…" As a unit, she was able to contact her summoner through telepathic means in the likelihood of being separation. "Ace. We have a problem."

...

Ace and Evelyne wandered around the area, searching to see what they could buy. The first store that he walked into was a jeweler's, thinking that this would be the best place to look for something Ninmah would like. He browsed through the items the store had to offer. Glass containers containing a wide variety of necklaces, rings and other jewelry of different styles. He came across something that piqued his interest: a well-crafted necklace shaped in a crescent moon adorned with small blue crystals. _This is perfect!_ He thought. Without giving it a second thought, he called over an employee to purchase it. Evelyne sighed. "Isn't this a little too overkill?" She asked, noting the price of the item in question.

"Ain't no kill like overkill!" Ace grinned as he paid for the item and received a gift-wrapped box in return.

"This is Christmas you know, not Valentine's day..." She muttered. She knew how considerate Ace was towards others, especially his units, though he seemed to forget himself. The two still had debts to pay from the numerous damages they caused from the blunders that resulted from their Aeonian nature.

"You know how I am with things like these, I settle for no less!" He boasted. With that out of the way, he pulled her along with him again as he ran off towards another store, the next one had an "old-fashioned" feeling to it. The atmosphere was rather primitive in nature, containing merchandise that appeared to be tribal in nature, a fitting place to buy something for Enki. Like before he bought a necklace, though this one was decorated with wooden beads and some unidentifiable beast's teeth. The purchase made Evelyne cringe a little. "What?" Ace questioned her. "Do you have any better idea what to get him?" She was about to voice her complaint again but was quickly dragged off by Ace before she could do so.

He checked off half the units off the list, leaving Vargas and Lava. He knew what to get for Vargas. He knew how much he trained every day, and would sleep for hours on end afterward. As of late, he had trouble sleeping, his blanket was not providing enough warmth for the cold winter nights. He searched around the shops to find one that sold them, eventually finding one. The blanket was neatly folded and stuffed into a bag, to which Evelyne had to hold. The last on the list was Lava. Unlike the others, he had next to no clue despite the amount of planning he had put into. he was at a standstill, thinking what would be the right gift to get her. He was so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed his sister managed to broke free and went off somewhere, bag in tow. "Huh? Where did she go?" He took a moment to see if he could track Evelyne through her energy, surely enough, he found her easily. It was no surprise that his trail would lead him to a bookstore, and he spotted his sister leaving the store with a new gift wrapped item in hand. "He had a hunch as to what she bought from there. "Oho! So you think that could work?"

"Do you have any better ideas?" She quipped, using Ace's own words back at him.

"Touché" He laughed. His smile suddenly faded as the mental message from Ninmah came through, notifying him about the current situation. His face turned to a much more serious expression, but still maintains his relaxed demeanor. "Welp. I guess today is going to get interesting."

"What is it this time?" Evelyne sighed.

"An explosion somewhere downtown. And Enki ran ahead to investigate."

"That idiot…" She brought her palm up to her face to show her disbelief. "Let's go, before things get even more stupid. You're carrying these." She then gave Ace the bag and the newfound gift, leaving him behind.

"Hey! Wait up!" Ace shouted, running after his sister while simultaneously trying to keep the presents balanced.

…

Smoke was escaping from the entrance of the treasury, numerous masked men were entering and exiting the building, bags of zel in tow. Enki arrived at the scene, the streets were devoid of people, save for the masked individuals. "Hey!" he shouted at the crooks. "You think you can ruin a holiday like this and get away with it?!"

"Ruin?" One replied. "Oh no, we're just bringing this zel and share it with the… er… children! Yeah!" He fibbed, thinking he could outwit a big oaf like Enki.

"You don't want to disappoint the children don't you?" the other said in a convincing yet rather condescending tone

His glare did not relent. "Do you really think you can take me for a fool?!" he roared. "I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET COMMITTING CRIMES ON A HOLIDAY!" He brought out his stone sword and roared as he leaped into the air and swung it into the ground, the resulting impact caused the ground to shake, A fissure formed and trailed towards the crooks, causing them to stumble.

"Playing hardball, are we? Take him down!" More crooks arrived on the scene and tried to pounce on Enki, various bladed weaponry in hand. "RULE BREAKERS, ALL OF YOU!" Enki roared, who responded to their attack by swinging his sword with wild abandon, sending them all flying one by one. In little time at all, there was only one crook left, who remained defiant. "You think you can scare me?" he smirked. "How about this?" He let out a loud, short whistle, and a pack of Bozdells, specially tamed by the perpetrators, stood along the walls of the treasury, they were ready to blow up at his command. "I'll give you a deal, let me go free, and everyone that is still inside will live. If not, boom."

Enki tried to restrain himself from going on another rampage, he wanted to knock the crook senseless, but he also did not want to have any casualties. Managing to suppress his rage, he stood still, which signaled the crook that he was letting him go.

"Merry Christmas!" The crook cackled as he ran off. With the snap of his fingers, and the Bodzells all exploded simultaneously. The treasury shook as its foundations were weakened, large cracks formed on the building as debris began to fall. Enki had two choices: Chase down the crook, or try to save whatever stragglers were inside. He did not need to think long and hard about this as he quickly sprinted into the building. There were still a few stragglers left in a daze from the second explosion, and some guards lay unconscious on the floor. There were no traces of blood so it was safe to assume they were only knocked unconscious. Debris continued to fall, the ceiling was beginning to crack from the pressure. Knowing that there was no other choice, he began to tap into his inner power, with a loud roar he went under a transformation from his human form to that of a giant primordial beast. Using his head, he kept the ceiling from falling. "RUN!" the beast boomed. "RUN BEFORE YOU GET SQUASHED!"

Some of the employees were left baffled by the transformation and some were still shaken up by the other events that had transpired, but he was right, they don't have the time to stand around. The remaining employees began to flee from the area, some picking up the fallen guards on the way. Despite being held up, the ceiling continued to crack from the pressure, and his feet were giving out from the sheer weight of the building. I'm not going to fall here! He thought. Not until the rest have escaped! As the last of the employees had left the building, Enki quickly lowered his head and proceeded to leave by crashing through the entrance. The gaping hole he left behind made the building significantly weaker, and it crumbled into nothing more but a pile of rubble and glass. After all was said and done, Enki reverted back into his human form, exhausted from using his energy. "Is everyone safe?" He looked around, everyone that was inside managed to escape as far as he was concerned.

"Care to explain what happened here?" Enki turned around to see that his summoner had just arrived at the scene. "Evy! I… err…" He tried to figure out how he could explain the situation. He did not need to as the numerous bags of zel laying around and the unconscious masked men all over the place was enough. "Even on days like these, there is no shortage of stupidity…" She sighed.

"Unfortunately, one of them managed to escape…" He growled.

"You mean this guy?" Ace called out from a distance, still carrying the gifts. Flying above him was a dragon, and hanging from its claws was the crook, who was suffering a massive wedgie. The dragon flapped its wings as it made its descent towards the ground. "I found this guy running with this stuff." He held out the four heavy bags of zel that he was carrying. "I think he was the idiot behind this."

"That makes it easier then." replied Evelyne.

Enki glared at the man and began to walk towards him, grabbing him by the collar and raised his fist. "I ought to give you a lesson for bringing these people into your little game." He growled. The man was shaking in his boots, which greatly contrasted from the cocky demeanor he had earlier. "L-Let me go!" He whimpered. "I've learned my lesson! I promise!"

Enki pulled him into eye level, still glaring at him with an unforgiving gaze. "You think I'm going to let you walk off after what you did?" He was about to punch the man straight in the jaw when he felt someone stopping him from doing so. "That's enough." Ninmah stood beside him, having already transform from her draconic form to her human form and was holding his hand. "I think he has learned his lesson."

"But you saw what he did! He should be punished here and now!"

"You've done your part, no one got hurt in the accident, right?"

Enki looked at the crowd of people that he had just saved, who were all staring at him. "...Yeah. You're right…" He said, now feeling less tense than before. He dropped the man, and two guards came in to detain him.

"Let them handle the rest, I'm sure in time things will return to normal."

Enki simply nodded.

Ace broke the mood by clapping his hands. "Now that that's settled, time to go back to shopping!"

"Even after all that, you still want to go shopping?" Evelyne cringed.

"Well there's still daylight, and I still have things to buy, so why the hell not?" He was about to make a move when one nagging thought stopped him. "Where the heck is Vargas and Lava?"

As if on cue, the two knights descended, looking somewhat exhausted. "Heard… Explosion…" Vargas said between breaths.

"What happened here?" Lava inquired.

"Something very stupid, but it's resolved now." replied Evelyne. Upon closer inspection, she noticed the two were holding hands. "Where were you two all this time?" She asked with a puzzled expression.

"We just had a little fun," Vargas replied with a comical smile.

"Yeah… fun." She said, her face showing a slight blush.

"Now all that's out of the way, back to shopping!" Ace grabbed his sister by the wrist and pulled her along with him using his free hand as he made his way back into the shopping district, still keeping caution as to balancing the gifts. "This is going to be a long day…" sighed Evelyne, who at this point was letting things run their course. Lava was in the same predicament as Vargas was also dragging her as well.

Enki trailed behind the rest, still feeling a little bitter from the events. He was pulled out his trance as Ninmah had a firm grip on his arm, much in the same manner as Ace and Vargas. "There is still more to see, and I would like for you to see these sights with me," she said, with a smile on her face. She was obviously trying to cheer him up from the incident, and at this point, he did not want to disappoint her. "Fine then," he returns a reluctant smile. "I'll let you lead the way." And with that, he, along with Lava and Evelyne, are pulled along with Ace and his units as they make use of the remaining daylight to continue Ace's Christmas shopping marathon.

* * *

 **Ace Helios Rex and Evelyne Luna Rex both belong to Garth Kaiser. I hope this chapter was to your liking and I pray to whatever god that I portrayed Enki and Ninmah correctly...**


	5. Chapter 5

A young grey-haired girl sat in front of the television, anxiously watching the news. It broadcasted the failed heist that took place yesterday, the perpetrators were taken into custody, and the reconstruction of the treasury was now underway. She felt relieved that no innocent people were injured, thanks to the efforts of a single unit; but the fact that something like this had happened in broad daylight, and close to Christmas no less, filled her with worry. Thoughts of dread filled her head, premonitions of another incident that might happen to her if she went out. "Quit worrying so much, Hikari." a voice sighed behind her. The girl turned around to see her teacher floating behind her, munching on some chocolates that were recently bought by Hikari. She had silver hair much like hers, but let her hair down instead of tying it up into twin tails like herself. She wore a maid's outfit, along with a hat resembling a fedora decorated with a white bow. Her eyes were heterochromatic, the right being a light gray and the left red, and her appearance resembled that of a little girl much younger than she was. "You're always so worried, cheer up!" she reassured her.

Hikari sighed. "I still don't know how you do it, Clockwork…"

"Hm? Do what?" Clockwork replied.

"You're always relaxed…"

"That's because you don't try hard enough."

"E-Easy for you to say… you hardly need to do anything..."

"Hmm? Did you say something?"

"N-Nothing…"

The girl known as Clockwork was in her usual laid back attitude, floating around without a care while eating some form of sweets. To this day, Hikari still wonders what goes on in that head of hers, or what she actually is for that matter. All she knew for certain was that she suddenly began to follow her out of the blue and that she vaguely resembled her teacher from a long time ago. She never interjected, not like she was able to anyway, and simply let things run its course. Her eyes and the fact she was able to float and disappear and reappear whenever she pleased showed that she was definitely not human, but she had not displayed any form of hostility towards her, just… casually watching over her with a sense of responsibility as a guardian of sorts. She seemed friendly enough, and under her supervision, as odd as it sounds, felt like a little getaway from her hectic life back with her parents, and she was well off with her.

Clockwork, on the other hand, was very grateful for having another chance to see her student again. The burden of her duties as the spirit of time was taxing, to say the least, but the monotonous nature of her work made it more boring than stressful. Being with Hikari was a win-win situation for her, she would be able to still perform her duties and look out for abnormalities in the timeline out on the field while being with her student and taking advantage of seeing what the world below has to offer, the latter two especially. For the most part, no incidents of a magnitude that would force her to intervene had occurred, so she was able to enjoy herself more.

Hikari walked over to look at the calendar to see what day it was today. December 16th, Christmas was almost a week away. This made Clockworks eyes widened and floated towards Hikari with a fittingly ecstatic expression. "It's almost here!?" She shouted, still munching on the chocolate.

This startled Hikari, nearly making her trip. "Kya!" She squealed. "D-Don't surprise me like that…"

"Your reactions are always fun to watch." She giggled. The remark made Hikari blush, turning away from her. "Oh don't be like that. I'm only joking." She jested. Hikari took a moment to collect herself before turning to a list right next to the calendar. It was a checklist that detailed what she was supposed to buy. Much to her fortune, most of the list was complete. She already had the gifts bought and gift-wrapped, which was good, the decorations, and groceries. All that was needed were more chocolates for Clockwork, and a tree. Wait… 'More Chocolates for Clockwork?' That wasn't on the list, and what's more, it wasn't in her handwriting. She looked to Clockwork, who peered into the now empty box of chocolates. "Aww. empty already?" Clockwork whined while shaking the empty box. Hikari sighed, it was slightly irritating to perform this chore on a near daily basis, especially if she has to deal with going through crowds. Considering what she needed to do right now, she would be able to get both things done at once. The quicker she could finish her shopping, the better.

Hikari walks over to the closet and puts on her white jacket, a matching colored scarf, and gray shoes. Simultaneously, Clockwork follows her and puts on a black fur coat and matching colored leather boots, their colors contrasted with Hikari's overall bright attire. As the two were getting ready, one of Hikari's units walked by and asked, "Are going out, Lady Hikari?"

"Yes, Sefia." She replied to her unit, a white-winged warrior clad in an ornate plate armor and a flowing blue cape. She has white hair tied up into a ponytail, and a sword and shield were strapped to her back. " I need help to get a tree... and more chocolates."

"Then allow me to accompany you," Sefia replied.

"Th-That would be nice. Thank you.."

Seeing Hikari allowing her unit to come with her on their excursion made Clockwork want to do the same. "Hey, Elimo. Wanna come with us?" She summoned her own unit, who was a woman with long orange hair who wore a bright blue robe with gold frames and a decorated miter with the same color scheme. "I don't see a reason why not." She replied. The group exited the house and went out to see if they could not find any trees.

Much to Hikari's discomfort, the shopping district was packed, as usual. The sheer number of the passerby and the loud chatter that came from them made her even more anxious. This especially didn't help her fears of yet another incident like the one from yesterday. She kept her head down, making sure she did not make any eye contact while Sefia walked beside her and made sure she did not hit anyone.

Clockwork, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. The decorations and the lively atmosphere made her more excited for the holidays. Ever since she first came across its existence, she had wanted to see it for herself. After a few years of actually celebrating Christmas with her student, she felt just as excited for its arrival like everyone else, if not more. She floated next to Hikari, humming happily along with the faint sound of a carol playing on a radio in one of the shops. Some people were looking at her because of her apparent ability to float, but she did not mind. Elimo floated behind her, also taking in the peaceful yet lively atmosphere. Clockwork looked over to Hikari, who was looking at a map of the capital she had printed prior to their trip. "What are you looking at, Hika?" she asked.

"I need to figure out where this shop is." Replied Hikari. "I hope they still have some trees…" There were many areas circled on the maps, numerous shops that she had planned to visit. "Why do you need to go to all these shops?" whined Clockwork. "You only needed to buy a tree, right?"

"Y-yeah… but you know how quickly they sell…"

"...Good point." Clockwork sighed, she didn't expect the day to be such a chore. On the bright side, she could look at more random decorations, and they could get some chocolates still.

The group makes it to the first store on the list. Just as Hikari predicted, there were no trees available. They walked to the next one, empty. Then they went to the next, and the next one after that. A couple of hours had passed, most of the shops were already crossed off the list. By this point, Hikari was getting tired from walking everywhere to the point where Sefia had to support her. "If we cannot buy any trees here, why not cut one down ourselves?" Sefia suggested.

"There are plenty of coniferous trees in the forest just outside the capital." Elimo chimed in. "It will help save us some zel."

Hikari sighed. _Why did I not think of that idea sooner?_ She thought. _Maybe I should stop watching the news… All this anxiety is messing with my head._ "A-Alright…" She said before consulting the map. "Hika… The chocolates…" Clockwork whined again as she tugged on Hikari's sleeve. That's right, she still needed to buy some chocolates to satisfy Clockworks sweet tooth. "I h-haven't forgotten that. We'll make a stop at one of the shops before going to the forest."

Clockwork giggled happily as she began to perform aerial backflips. The group made a quick stop to a nearby chocolatier, Hikari and Clockwork went inside to browse what the shop had to offer while Elimo and Sefia waited outside. "It is surprising to see you not inside reading your tomes as usual," said Sefia.

Elimo looked over to one of the books she was carrying. "Even scholars like me need to have a break. I don't want to be cooped up in my room all the time." When she looked back to Sefia, she saw that she had a wistful expression as she looking at the scenery around her. She asked, "Are you remembering something?"

There was a short moment of silence before Sefia made her response. "It's not the holiday that makes me nostalgic, but the color red." She replied, looking at the many ornaments and some of the Santa Claus effigies that stood in front of the stores.

"Ah yes, Kikuri." Elimo inquired. "Do you think that she might relax on this holiday?"

"I doubt it. But with the color red all over the place, I figure she might mistake it for blood." Elimo giggled at the remark, she could not help but to imagine such a thing. "But jokes aside, I doubt her bloodlust would subside even on a holiday."

"Hehe…" Elimo uttered a more nervous chuckle, she could very well imagine that situation too.

"As insane as she could be, I still owe her for giving me a different reason to fight. If it wasn't for her, I would still be a puppet hunting down otherworldly beings." Sefia sighed, leaning back on the wall. "Oh, how I wish to have a rematch with her again."

"I'm sure you will get the chance."

Sefia nodded. "But for now, We have to watch over our summoners." She looked to the window into the shop, Hikari was now at the counter paying for a few boxes of chocolate while Clockwork floating behind her with a slight drool, looking more childish. The two exit the shop, and Clockwork was already digging into one of the boxes of chocolate. "N-now let's go find a tree," Hikari announced. The two units nodded as they began making their way out of the capital and into a nearby forest.

The forest was full of coniferous trees, the type of tree the group was looking for. Some stumps are seen, showing that they were not the only ones who came up with the idea. Fortunately, there were still plenty of trees to find, but now comes the chore as to which tree, in particular, should they cut down. "Why not cut down that tree over there?" Clockwork suggested. "We can get this done and over with quickly."

Hikari shook her head. "No… That would be too big. Something smaller." She said, noting that the space in the living room could only hold up so much.

Clockwork sighed. "Why must finding things be so tedious…?" she whined. The group began to look around for a suitable tree, all the while Clockwork was getting more impatient by the second. The day was going so well, but she did not want to deal with any more mundane activities. _All these trees look the same anyway, why does she need to look for one anyway?_ She thought as she performed various flips in mid air to preoccupy herself as they continued to look around. They then stumbled onto a much smaller tree, the perfect size the group was looking for. Hikari turned to her unit. "Sefia. Could you cut this tree down please?"

"As you wish." Sefia unsheathed her long sword and swung at the tree's trunk. The trunk lets out an audible crack and the tree slowly began to tip over. "Timber!" yelled Clockwork as the tree comes crashing down onto the snow. Bits of pine littered the snow from the impact, but for the most part, the tree remained the same.

Sefia then walked up to the bottom end and lifted it up by the trunk. "I need help here." Hikari goes to the top end of the tree and lifted it up, with her gloves, she did not feel the pines, so it was not hard to carry. Elimo, on the other hand, was not as fortunate as she tried to get a firm grip on the tree, the pines were making it difficult as they pricked her hands. She was not sure if it was the feeling she got for her excitement towards the holiday or if it was from her need to get things over with, but Clockwork felt like doing the one thing she would almost never do: actually doing something. Floating to the side opposite of Elimo, she helped lift the tree up, despite her petite appearance, she was able to lift it up just fine, almost matching the amount of effort the other girls were putting. This came as a surprise to the other three, Clockwork was not one for labor, let alone do anything that required some effort. Though she had displayed this behavior at least once or twice, it would almost either involve Hikari's safety, or in the holidays. Nonetheless, the group began making their way back to their house, tree in tow.

After what felt like hours, they finally made it back to their home, bringing the tree inside was a little difficult and setting it upright in the corner of the living room proved to be a bit of a more challenging one. "S-Steady now…" Stuttered Hikari. The four kept the tree balanced as they try to set it down in a dirt filled the pot in the corner. As they were finished, the fallen pine from the tree left a trail leading to the door. "I-I'll clean this up…" Hikari was about to grab the broom before clockwork stopped her. "I'll do it." She said, broom in hand.

"Eh? B-but…"

"Just decorate the tree. Compared to that, doing this isn't much, right? I'll help out afterward."

Hikari was again taken aback by Clockwork's sudden need to take initiative. Even though she had done something like this a few times before, it still surprises her due to how scarce this display of behavior was. Clockwork began sweeping the pines, gathering them into a little pile. It would be a lie if she said she was doing it out of kindness. In fact, she wanted the day to end quickly, the quicker she could get to bed, the better. Using her time manipulating powers surely would prove to have more harm than good, so she resorted to doing a few chores for once. After all, '''Tis the season of goodwill' and all that. She finished cleaning up the discarded pines to join the others in decorating the tree, wrapping it in a few colored garlands and lights as Sefia, Elimo and Hikari added the ornaments. The tree was fully decorated in no time at all, thanks, in part, to Clockworks sudden assistance.

Hikari plugged the cord into a nearby outlet, and the lights emitted a rainbow colored glow, the star on top shone brightly with the same intensity as the other lights, illuminating the now dim room. Despite having gone through this ritual several times in the past, this sight was still something to behold, especially to Clockwork. A light jingle played from one of the decorations, it felt very soothing, almost sleep-inducing. She let out a yawn, her eyes felt heavy, she felt sleepy after exerting herself more than she could possibly have on a day like this. She flopped back onto the floor, snoring away, not noticing that the three girls were staring at her.

"Of course the first thing she does is sleep afterward." Sefia sighed.

Elimo replied, "Well, she managed to do quite a lot today. I think it's right that she has her rest now."

Hikari walked up to the sleeping child and gently picked her up, carrying her to her room. There she gently tucked her into bed. Clockwork snored softly as she turned over to the side, facing Hikari. Even though she had yet to understand what kind of being Clockwork was, Hikari still felt grateful for everything she has done. She may not have been the one to take initiative, she has acted as her caretaker, keeping her out of harm's way and sometimes has helped her in her training. Hikari reluctantly parts Clockwork's head as a sign of thanks for what she did today. She then leaves a box of chocolates nearby for her before exiting her room. She may not wake up anytime soon, which was fine. At least she could finally get what she wanted: some peace and quiet and some well-deserved sleep.

* * *

 **Hikari Akagi and Clockwork belong to The Fell Angel. I hope I did not mess up your characters and the chapter is too your liking.**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Back with another chapter, time to make a change in pace._**

* * *

 _The house was set ablaze by numerous figures whose identities were obscured by the masks they wore over their face, and their dark clothing helped blend into the darkness outside. The fire had consumed most of the house at this point and he was trapped in the lower levels. Three bodies lay on the floor, two laid dead, and one leaning against the wall on a pool of her own blood just barely holding onto her consciousness. She had suffered numerous wounds from her earlier struggle against her parents. As crazy as they were, they were still competent and capable fighters given their military history. By some miracle, she had successfully despatched them, but she did not go through it unscathed. She was breathing heavily, the hot temperature and smoke around them were making it hard to breathe. In addition to the numerous cuts she had sustained from the fight earlier, she had also suffered numerous burns and scratches from the fire and falling debris. With her injuries, she found herself unable to get up, no matter how hard she tried._

 _A young boy slowly woke up to see the chaos around him, his eyes widened as he saw the woman. "H-Halcya!" He coughed as he quickly ran towards his sister and knelt by her side. "Halcya! Wake up!" The woman turned to look at him, and she let out a smile. "I-I'm glad you're alright…" She spoke weakly "No one will torment you anymore…"_

" _It's not safe here!" The boy shouted. "Come on! I'll help you get out of here!" He extended his hand out to help Halcya, but she gently swatted it away. "I'm not going to make it. I'll only slow you down…"_

" _Don't say that! We'll both make it out alive! We-" She cut him off._

" _My wounds are too severe, I don't have much time left…"_

 _Tears began to form and streamed down his cheeks. "B-But… you're the only one that ever cared... Who's going to look after me?"_

 _Halcya placed her hand on his cheek, stroking his face as she spoke again in the sweet tone that had comforted him many times before. "You're a big boy, right?I know you'll be able to take care of yourself, right?" She then pointed to his pants pocket. "Those gems… They'll help you summon someone to protect you. Everything will be fine." She coughed. "The boy quickly turned around to leave before he was stopped. "Actually, I have a gift for you, I guess it was really late, huh?" She chuckled, despite her situation. She hands over a small box. "What's this?" the boy asked._

 _She smiled once more. "It's a surprise, don't peek until you get out, alright? This place isn't going to last much longer. Run, Nevryn. And don't look back!"_

 _He shut his eyes tightly and firmly gripped the box as he sprinted up the stairs all the while the floor began to give way above him and collapsed. He dove through the opening that led to the main floor, ignoring his sister's order he turned back, only to see that the way back to the basement was now blocked by rubble. Even if he wanted to go back to attempt to save her, it was now impossible. He continued to run towards the front door, but as he was mere inches away from the ceiling caves in once again, he wasn't as lucky this time as he was now trapped under the debris. He was lucky to not be pinned down, but the way out was now covered with broken pieces of wood protruding from the piles of broken components that used to be the drywall that made up the ceiling. Despite this, he continued to crawl towards the exit, all the while the sharp pieces of wood left cuts all over his body. He winced with every new scratch, but he persevered. Within the last stretch of the cramped corridor, he cried out in pain as the last piece of splintered wood that was in the way leaves a deep cut on his left cheek. He finally crawled out of the pile after what seemed like forever and barged through the door, just in time as what remained of the upper floor collapses and the rest of the house began to cave in. What used to be his family home was reduced to nothing more but burning wood, and crumbled brick with a cacophony of wood splitting and the crashing of what used to be the walls._

 _He looked back at the mess, tears clouded his vision as he knelt down and began to weep. He slowly opened the box, in it was a small pot holding a lone light purple flower, tear drops dripped onto their delicate petals. He looked back to his burning house again, smoke rose high into the air, obscuring the view of the moon in the night sky. "I will find a way to bring you back… No matter what it takes…"_

…

"Ugh…" The young man groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. The alarm clock blared to signal it was already morning. "Enough already…" He slammed his hand onto the snooze button before getting out of bed. He allowed himself to let his vision clear up while looking over to a nearby shelf, on it was a familiar pot holding a lone light purple flower and stared at it with a wistful expression. The Shion flower, the flower whose symbolism ties to the concept of remembrance. A fitting analogy, as that flower was the last thing he could remember of his sister before she perished. Some nights the incidents would play back, haunting his dreams. He could remember it all down to the smallest detail, and it hurt. With each recurring nightmare, it only fueled his desire to bring back his sister, the only person who ever really truly cared about him, back from the dead. Even though he never fully understood the nature of what happened that day, the one thing that mattered that that goal, perhaps if he could bring back Halcya, he might also find some closure.

Nevryn had summoned a two units that he thought were very convenient to his pursuit of bringing back Halcya. Summoning Yuura and Holia, a necromancer and a demonic researcher who worked the supposed "ultimate weapon" respectively. He felt very fortunate, summoning experts who specialized in reanimation and had experience in creating life. With knowledge around topics like those, he was certain that achieving the resurrection he had longed for would be realized, but it turns out that even this would prove to be an obstacle of absurd proportions. They would need components, most of which were near impossible to obtain in terms of quantity and price, given his current economic state. He was living in someone else's home and his funds were nowhere near to help him acquire what he needed.

Bringing someone back from the dead was not as simple as using a revive or simple chant unless it was Yuura, but Nevryn had long since steered away from necromancy altogether after knowing the possible downsides to it. Even if he did manage to obtain those components, he still had to acquire the necessary equipment for them to work with. Considering that the house he was living in was not a laboratory, this made that chore all the more taxing in all sense of the word. So far he was going nowhere, the jobs he sought after were either all taken or did not provide a good reward to meet his needs. Raids were not an option either as there were no contracts available. At this point, he had to deal with what zel he had already had and find a way to preoccupy himself until the next opportunity arises.

Nevryn slowly got out of bed and began to fix it, arranging the pillows and laying out the blanket in an organized fashion. "At least she didn't try to sneak into my bed in the middle of the night this time…" He muttered quietly to himself. "What was that?" A voice cooed behind him. He cringed a little as he knew that voice all too well. "And good morning to you too, Sara." He calmly greeted his landlord and older sister figure. "Morning~". She replied in the usual gentle yet provocative tone as she traced her finger around his body. Nevryn quickly jerked away before she could try to fondle him, slightly blushing as he fixed his pajamas. He was used to her tendencies, and he trusts her wholly on the fact she only has done that and nothing too scandalous, otherwise he would have left her a long time ago. The way that she outwardly shows her perverted nature was both unsettling and commendable, it's better than hiding it anyway but still questionable nonetheless. "Can you leave the room for a second? I need to change."

"Fine. I'll be waiting." She said and strides out of the room.

Nevryn locks the door and windows as an added measure of the likelihood of any more intrusions or peeking before going to change. In a few minutes, he donned a rather formal attire, wearing a dark suit and tie along with black dress pants. If one had to describe his appearance, one would point out that he looked like a mourner, which is, unfortunately, true on his part. After he was done changing, he proceeded to make his way downstairs, where Sara and his units were waiting.

"Morning, sunshine." The purple haired man called out while lounging on the couch. From the way he greeted him, one could easily spot a hint of teasing in his voice.

"Shut up Yuura," Nevryn muttered, still feeling somewhat groggy from his sleep last night. He reclined on the couch opposite of Yuura, not wanting to look what's outside the window.

He looked at the stacks of newspapers neatly set on the table and began to read it. Nothing more but the usual holiday drivel and pointless sales at shops that were associated with it. The only article of interest he could spot were the updates regarding the failed heist that happened at the treasury a few days ago. Even then he paid it no attention, it did not concern him anyway and it seemed that the recovery was going well. The last thing he checked was the classifieds section, unsurprisingly the jobs listed there did not pique his interest. Like the rest of the newspaper, it was all Christmas-related part time jobs that he did not want to take part in. He placed the newspaper back and read the next, the same content. And the next, same thing. Feeling defeated, he placed the newspapers on one side of the table and leaned back more on the couch.

What was there to do at this point? He searched as much as he could to find any decent paying job, but they were all either jobs that yielded low pay or volunteer work. "You should relax a little." Said Yuura. "You've been working like hell these past few months. You won't go anywhere if you're not in shape."

As much as he hated to admit it, Yuura was right. So far his pursuit was leading him nowhere, the lack of sleep contributed to the decline in his performance. In addition to the lack of suitable jobs for him as it is the holidays, perhaps he could use this time to recuperate and get his mind back into an optimal state if he is to continue.

"You know…" A female voice called out from down the hallway. "I could always tinker around with your emotions and make you feel better instantly."

"I appreciate the offer, Holia. But I'll pass." Nevryn declined. As skillful as she was in her craft, he felt dubious about the outcome should he let her perform any psychological alterations on him, he might end up compromising his memories of Halcya.

"I'll always be of service should you ever change your mind," Holia replied before returning to what he presumed to be her research of Gods-know-what kind of subject.

Nevryn looked around, noticing that Sara was nowhere to be found. "Where did she go?"

"I believe she went out to buy more drinks," Yuura replied.

 _Typical…_ He thought to himself. There was never a day where she would hold a bottle of some alcoholic beverage in her hand, of course, she would go out to buy more. "Do you mind if you follow her in case she does something vulgar again?"

"Fine." The necromancer replied with no objections. "I know how much you care for her. Save those feelings when we revive your sister." He said with his usual smirk before heading out.

As helpful as he can be, Yuura's "honesty", as he calls it, can be aggravating at times. This was not the first time he had exploited his brother-sister relationship with Sara for his own amusement, though that did not mean it did not strike a nerve every time he jested about it.

Wanting to relax, he proceeded to walk back upstairs to see if he could at least try to catch up on his sleep. En route to his room, he noticed that the door to Sara's room was ajar. He knew her for quite some time now, and he had enough reasons to trust her. Though, as honest as she is about her behavior, she had yet to explain as to why she does what she does. Still, he felt dubious about whether or not it was right to enter her room, and who knows what she might have in there? Against his better judgment, he proceeded to enter her room. Her room was unexpectedly neat and tidy as her behavior would suggest, save for the few pillows laying around and a wrinkled blanket. There were a few stuffed toys and body sized pillows, no doubt for Sara's need for cuddling if he and his units were out of her reach at night. What stood out was a small picture that rested on the table. It had a picture of two adults and a little girl. Upon closer inspection, the girl resembled a much younger Sara. The photo had clear signs of being dated, but the details still remained clear. Next to the picture was a small book, it had no discernible features nor did it have a title. Curious, he walked up to the book and inspected it. The pages were labeled with dates followed by entries of various lengths, some small, some longer. _A diary…_ It was strange, he did not think of Sara as the type of person who would do such things. A few pages were filled with scribbles, some pages had visible tears in them that showed the amount of anger that was put into some of the entries.

" _Why do they ignore me? Do they hate me or something?"_ One page said.

" _I just wanted to be noticed. Is that too hard to ask?_ " Said another.

Nevryn's eyes turned to one particular entry, this one was especially short. " _They don't care if I go out, they don't care if I get hurt. If I run away, would they even care?_ "

He flipped the pages back to the earlier entries, and almost all of them were the same: rants of her parent's negligence and desire to get attention. Could this be the cause of her deviant behavior? The need for attention surely showed, and actions such as inappropriate touching would surely garner quite a lot of it. But why resort to that? He was not an expert in psychology, but if most of her life revolved around being ignored, it would not lead up to this, could it? Curious, he wanted to learn more. He found himself immersed into reading that as he heard the front door open from below, it actually shocked him. "I'm back!" It was Sara. Nevryn quickly closed the book and arranged them back to their original positions and quickly, but quietly, exits the room and casually walked downstairs as if nothing happened.

Meanwhile, downstairs Yuura had the misfortune of having Sara leaning on him as she continued to stroke his face. "Your skin is very smooth." She remarked.

"Oh, I take care of myself," Yuura replied. "Some say that I don't focus on hygiene, but I do." Outside, he was wise-cracking as usual, internally, however, even he felt a little uncomfortable around Sara. _This girl is crazier than I am._ He thought. _I don't know how he handles it!_

Nevryn makes his way downstairs, maintaining his usual calm demeanor. "That trip was quicker than I expected."

Sara got off of Yuura before walking to Nevryn and hugs him. "What? Did you miss me?" She teased.

"No. I simply noticed how short that trip was. That's all."

Sara scratched her head. "Was it that quick? I thought I was out for a few hours. I guess time does fly when you're having fun." She then walked over to the kitchen to place the bottles of beer into the refrigerator.

Nevryn glanced over to a pile of papers that rested on the carpet by the door, mail had apparently arrived earlier and he did not notice them before. He picks up the pile and began to look over them one by one. They were the same usual junk mail full of advertisements and what not. Some mail were addressed to Sara, but he did not bother to look into those. Close to the bottom of the pile was something different. There was one mail that was addressed to him, the sender being a person named 'Valerie Windell', one of the many summoners from the summoners hall. But what could she possibly want with someone like him? It had to be something trivial.

His suspicions were confirmed as he pulled out an invitation card from the envelope. The decorative artwork was a clear giveaway that it was an invitation to a Christmas party.

* * *

"Hello! We happily invite you to a Christmas party! We hope you could join us to celebrate this joyous holiday and commemorate our past accomplishments over an evening of merriment and fun!"

Date: December 24

Time: 5:00 - 10:00 pm

"Feel free to bring any other guests if you want!"

* * *

Below the rather cliche of the invitation and the date and time was the address where it would be held, which was somewhere in the residential district of Randall.

"Tch. Not one of these things…" This was something he did not want to bother with or any social gathering for that matter. Pointless gatherings such as these would only serve as a distraction to his goal, he did not have the time for things like these. He slid the invitation and tossed the envelope aside. Sara arrived just in time to see it fall right into the bin. "Whats this?" She wondered as she pulled out the envelope out of the recycling bin. Once she found the invitation, a sly grin formed on her face. "Aha! So you've been invited to a party." Nevryn knew very well that Sara was not a Christmas person, but once something like a party is mentioned in front of her, she ends up looking like a child in a candy store. Her smile stretched further, no doubt she was fantasizing on who might show up there. "Do you plan on going?" She asked him.

He wanted to tell her that he had no interest in joining, but the very idea of letting her go into something like this alone would be a bad idea. The diary also came to mind, she obviously wanted more attention, and, if anything, he felt like he should make up for her kindness. To say that she looked after him in the fashion almost reminiscent to Halcya would be over-exaggerating, but it was better than nothing. He sighed. "Yeah. and you can come too. Just try to show some restraint."

"Oh I'll try, but are no guarantees…" She licked her lips in a seductive way. It was mannerisms like these that would make one cringe, but he had long since grown accustomed to her behavior. "Oho? What's this I'm hearing?" This time, Holia joins in the conversation as she inspected the invitation. "Interesting. I wonder just what kinds of subjects I might encounter there?" Considering her past as a researcher, her curiosity was understandable, though her smile was similar to that of Sara's, no doubt they both had some ulterior motives for joining.

Yuura placed his hand over his summoners shoulder and grinned. "Good job, boss. You made two ladies happy today."

Nevryn sighed. _I'm starting to regret this already... This better be worth it..._

* * *

 **Nevryn and Sara belong to N. Aepic Fael. I hope I did not mess up in portraying your characters and this chapter was to your liking.**


	7. Chapter 7

_The next day..._

"Time to make the usual visit.' Was the first thing Fray said as he got out of bed. The calendar that hung up on the wall nearby had a particular date circled simply labeled "Visit the orphanage". Ever since he had helped out his friend Sheryl in a hostage situation, it has become a monthly ritual to visit the orphanage his friend she and her family worked at to see how she was doing. Sometimes he would come by and assist her with some chores and play with the children there, mostly the latter. He got himself dressed, wearing his usual attire that consisted of a blue shirt, a forest green hooded jacket that was worn on top of it, and baggy black trousers that were fastened with a brown belt. After he finished changing, he went down to see if his units were ready.

"Morning, kitten!" One of his units greeted him as he made his way into the living room. Her habit of calling her summoner random nicknames did not necessarily annoy him in any way, he simply got used to her hyperactive and somewhat tomboyish nature. "Is it that time already?"

"Morning, Limera," Fray replied. "And yeah. It's that time again. I'm planning on introducing Galtier to the children as well."

"Galtier?" She replied with an unsure expression. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean we are going to an orphanage, not the colosseum."

"Don't worry about it. I'm thinking that this will help out in making him more open. Besides, I have ways in making him comply, whether he wants to or not."

Limera shrugged. "If you say so, don't blame me if something bad happens."

"It won't. " Fray assured her with a nonchalant tone. "Everything will be fine. Speaking of which, Time to summon him." He grabbed his red wool scarf and gloves and grabbed his gray colored boots before walking out of his home to prepare the summoning ritual. He closed his eyes and controlled the mana in his body into his summoning ability and materialized Galtier. In a bright flash, a man donned in black armor with some fur lining stood before the pair. He wore a cowl whose design looked reminiscent to a dark purple flame with a maw-like opening. His face was completely obscured by darkness, only two glowing white eyes were visible. At his side was a black horse clad in armor that covered the majority of his body, its appearance greatly resembled its master. "What do you need from me, Summoner?" The knight asked in a hollow and irritated tone.

"We are heading into Randall for a favor, and I need you to come with us to help out."

"What?! I do not have time for such trivial things!" Even though his face was not visible, one can easily detect his dissatisfaction to the idea. "We're doing charity work, I'm sure an Onion Knight like you can handle that."

"'Charity'?" The Fallen Knight griped. "And why do you think I should help you?"

"I was sure the Great Galtier could help out." Fray sarcastically moaned. "But it appears even he wouldn't want to perform a good deed like a real hero would." He knew Galtier well enough that he had an insatiable hunger for fame and fortune. There may be no material reward out of it, but he could easily be convinced if he could sugar coat the request well enough. "People love a do-gooder, especially around this time. I'm sure the reputation one would gain would make them a magnet for more requests…"

"Requests? Explain yourself." Galtier inquired.

"Oh if you build some reputation, the more people would recognize you. Though I'm pretty sure you're well aware of what comes with reputation."

Galtier mused on the idea for a few moments, no doubt fantasizing about the merits of reputation and the possible rewards that come from it. "Fine then." he huffed. "I shall assist you in this task. This better be worth the trouble." He saddled on top of his horse and, with a slight squeeze on its ribs with his feet, began jogging ahead of the group into the direction of the imperial capital.

"That actually worked?" Limera cringed at the result.

"He is a rather simple-minded individual. Of course, it would work." Fray replied. "We better catch up with him before he gets himself lost."

"Right." The pair quickly ran toward the archway that signified the exit of the Village of the Venturer and sprinted towards Randall.

The streets still looked the same as they were for the past few weeks, bright lights and festive decorations everywhere. Passersby were walking around, still on their usual routine of either getting more decorations, sweets or socializing. Some stared nervously at Galtier and his ominous appearance, he, on the other hand, did not seem to care, all he was thinking about was what was the work he was assigned to. Fray and Limera in the meantime were trailing just a few feet behind him, taking in the atmosphere while still keeping an eye on the Knight. "So, where are we headed to?" Galtier asked.

"Oh don't worry. We're going to arrive there shortly." Fray replied. Up ahead the trio could hear the sound of children laughing, the orphanage was just in sight. The children were playing around in the front courtyard of the building, some chose to run around playing tag, others laid down in the snow making snow angels. Others decided to make snowmen, while a few others had a little snowball war. Amongst the small group of children was a young yellow-haired woman who supervised them. She spotted Fray and his units walking down the road ahead and began to wave at them, with Fray waving back. The kids looked over to see who she was waving to, when they saw Fray they all shouted, "He's Back!" The children crowded at the gate waiting to meet him. As he opened the gate and walked into the walkway, they began to bombard him with many questions.

"Did you miss us?"

"Got any sweets?"

"How are you?"

"Can I touch your ears?" One child pointed at the cat ears attached to the hood.

"Alright now, calm down, I'll answer all of your questions shortly." Fray kept a calm and level headed temperament even with the sheer number of children around him, though he could tell that he was not getting to them with all the noise.

"Now now, there's no need to be so noisy. Please give Mister Fray some space, You'll have a chance to play with him. I just need to talk with him for a moment, okay?"

"Okay, Sis!" The children replied and went back to their activities.

Fray turned to his units. "Well, you heard Sheryl, I have to talk with her for a few minutes, so I need you two to entertain the kids, alright?"

Limera beamed a smile. "Can do!" She went over to a small group of orphans to show off her magical prowess.

Galtier was about to voice yet another complaint, but his summoner already had begun to walk over to the woman, leaving him to deal with a handful of noisy brats. _How dare he leave me to do something so trifling!_ More and more, he slowly lost interest in the task and wanted to raze everything around him to the ground, but due to his contract as a unit with Fray, he that would cause more harm to himself than good. At this point, all he could do was let things take its course.

Some of the children were unsettled by his appearance, but seeing his horse and the fact his face was hidden made them ask some obvious questions.

"Where's your face?"

Why do you look so scary?"

"Can I ride on your horse?"

"Can you remove that hood?"

"Wh-What?! No!" The way the children disregarded his appearance and had the bravado to ask such questions, accompanied with the fact he had little to no experience with children, took him by surprise. The tone of his voice signaled the children that there was nothing to worry about, and they all began to crowd nearby the horse, continuing to bombard Galtier with questions like they did with Fray.

In the meantime, Fray was having a light conversation nearby the Orphanage's entrance. "I see the children are doing well."

"They have," Sheryl replied. "And they've been more energetic lately. They are excited for Christmas."

"We were all like that once before." He chuckled. "How have you been doing?"

"I'm doing fine. Seeing the children smile like this makes it all worthwhile. Also, I've noticed you summoned a new unit?"

"Yeah. I summoned him a few months ago."

She scrutinized the unit for a few moments. Clearly, this unit does not look like one that should be placed anywhere near the orphanage, but the situation told her otherwise. "It seems he is having fun." Sheryl smiled.

Fray looked back to see what was going on. He snickered at the sight. "Hey! Not too close!" He warned the kids as they were getting too close to the horse. They all kept their distance to make sure they would not get hurt, but they still surrounded Galtier and continued their onslaught of questions.

"Stay back!" He pulled on the reins to signal the horse to backpedal away from the children. As much as he hated to do this, he had to retreat. He motioned the horse to move back to the gate, but one of the horse's legs hit an unseen patch of ice, causing it to slip. The children backed away from the horse to a safe distance, all the while the horse continued to hit more ice patches. It made awkward movements as it tried to regain its balance, and Galtier had a hard time trying to stay in the saddle. With one more sudden jerk, the horse fell on its side and was unable to get up, the resulting fall also caused Galtier to tumble off the saddle, landing head first into the snow.

The children once more converged on the poor knight and pounced on him like a pack of wolves. They were all laughing, shaking him around and trying to see if they could remove his cowl. Much to his fortune, it was fixed on and did not budge, though given the current situation he was way out of his comfort zone.

"You're doing fine, Galtier!" He shouted. He turned over to Limera, who was still mesmerizing another group of children with a quick display of her pyromancy, in the form of small, controlled explosions that resembled fireworks. "Hey, Limera! Can you help me for a few minutes? I need to get Galtier's horse upright."

"Sure! I'll be right there." She stopped and let the children know that she would be back in a bit before rushing over to her summoners side and assisted him in getting the horse to stand. It took a little bit longer than expected, considering that the horse was wearing armor and the two were not the most athletic, so to speak.

"Sorry if I couldn't help." Sheryl apologized.

"It's fine," Fray replied. He looked up to see that the snowfall was progressively getting heavier and the wind was picking up. "That's not good," he stated.

Sheryl turned towards the children in the courtyard, cupped her hands together and shouted, "Everyone! It's time to go inside!"

"Okay!" They all shouted, and they then began to walk back inside into the orphanage in a calm and orderly fashion, like how students in an elementary school would walk when recess ended. Galtier felt a sense of relief as he slowly got up. His body felt sore in several places, he did not expect the task to be this vexing, nor did he expect the amount of pain a small group of children could do. He fastened the reins on the fence that bordered the orphanage. "I will return, so just sit tight." He told his steed before walking inside, just in time to walk in along with the last of the orphans.

The interior of the orphanage was well maintained, matching the state of the exterior. Despite its old-fashioned appearance, it was rather bright, and there were little traces of dust and dirt, save for the bits of snow that littered the way near the exit. The children had already taken off their boots and coats and were still making a lot of noise, running around or playing board games in one of the many rooms. It was hard to see outside due to the heavy snowfall, with the wind blowing with this amount of force, one would assume it was a squall.

Fray looked around for a second and asked, "Where's Mr. Hostanus? And I thought your family would help also?"

"He is out getting groceries and I was asked to fill in for him. My family is also busy getting the decorations to help get this place festive. I just hope they are all alright..."

"I hope so too. In the meantime, we better make sure the kids don't get themselves hurt."

"Okay, I'll take care of this side then." The two went off into different directions. Fray and Sheryl went off to supervise the children in different sides of the orphanage while Limera was reading a random story she picked from a bookshelf to another group. Galtier merely stood there, leaning against the wall as he observed it all with a somewhat agitated expression. _These miscreants. What could I possibly do to entertain them?_ He was contemplating on how he could try to make time pass by and get this over with. He was in a middle of thinking when one child poked his side to get his attention. He turned to face the child, who was a little girl. "What is it?" He asked.

"What's your name?" she asked the knight.

"I am Galtier."

"Eh? Gal… Gall tee eh?" The girl tried her best in trying to pronounce his name. Her attempts in doing so struck a nerve in him, but he let that slide. There was no way she could possibly get it on the first try. "So… What are you?" She inquired, wanting to know more about him.

"Who am I, you ask?" There was something about these types of questions that just made him want to show off his pride. "Well, you are talking to a hero!"

The girl tilted her head in confusion. "A hero? You don't look like one," she stated quite frankly.

"That is because I have not told you my achievements. Sit down young one, and I will tell you all about them. The girl crossed her legs and sat down on the ground in front of Galtier. Some of the other children noticed this and followed suit, intrigued as to what kind of story he had to share.

"I was a famous knight from a faraway place, you see. Knights are normally born from the rich, people like me, we were common peasant folk. There would be some in our class who would become knights who were noble not by birth, but by deed. They called us the "Onion Knights." Some of the children snickered at the name, it sounded rather hilarious.

Ignoring the giggling, Galtier continued. On with his story, elaborating on how famous the so-called Onion Knights were, despite the scorn from the higher class, and the kinds of good deeds he would perform as one. The children continued to listen to his tale, enthralled by how awesome it sounded. More children came to gather around to listen to it as he continued to boast about his life. Then came the moment where he talked about his greatest accomplishment: Slaying the demon wolf that was a threat to his kingdom. It was here he became a little more arrogant and over the top with his descriptions, but the children did not seem to care, they were immersed into the story.

Limera was just about finished with one story and proceeded to return the book back to its rightful place when she turned to see how Galtier was doing. The children that she had just read a story too joined the others to see Galtier rambling on about his life in a rather hilariously exaggerated fashion. She hid a giggle seeing how foolish he looked, but at the same time, it felt a little heartwarming to see Galtier open up to the children, even if he was just bragging about himself. Fray also came across this scene as he had to double back during his rounds. He too found this both hilarious and comforting. He could not help but smile a little. _Well, at least he managed to make his tale kid-friendly._ He thought, noting how Galtier managed to filter out the darker parts of his history. After he had finished his story, the girl from before asked him, "But if you're a hero, why do you look like that?"

"To give enemies something to be scared of. I had to make sure enemies knew who I was."

The kids questioned about the idea further. "Wouldn't it be better to wear something bright?"

"How can I put this…?" He pondered for a moment. "Sometimes scary is not all bad." Once again, he sugar coated his past to something more kid-friendly, then again, even he himself did not know why he became like this too. ' _Scary is not all bad'?_ Fray thought. _Alright, We'll play things your way._

"That makes sense, sort of." a boy shrugged.

One boy looked out the window and pointed at the horse. "Hey! When did we make a snow horse?"

 _Snow horse?_ Fray walked over to a nearby window and looked outside. Standing out in the snow was Galtier's horse, completely covered in snow. The way it did not make so much as a reaction to the situation made it appeared as if though it was a sculpture. The children crowded at the windows to see the newfound sight, staring with wide eyes while some laughed at how funny it looked. At this point, Galtier had gotten used to the ridiculousness around him to feel disappointed. He simply stated that the horse was fine and that it was not in danger. One of the children was about to ask to confirm his claim when the horse quickly snorted and shook the snow off of it. A few of the kids sighed in disappointment while others continued to giggle.

The kids returned to their usual frolicking, a few asking Galtier to play with them. Galtier felt reluctant to join, considering how it would affect his pride. But as of this moment, he felt something odd, a sort of warm feeling deep inside he had not felt in a long time. Was it happiness? Comfort? He had no clue, but it didn't matter. At least he was able to make his presence known somewhere, and soon he will be well known in this city as well. Still, it was a feeling that he just could not ignore, and for some reason, it compelled him to do as the children requested. _Should I really stoop down to this level?_ He contemplated. _I have my own reputation to keep._ Fray walked up to him and stated, "I did say people love a do-gooder over the holidays, right? There may be no reward out of this, but people will obviously like an individual with a lot of experience, even if it includes taking care of children."

Galtier continued to think. He looked back to his glory days as an Onion Knight, people would gather to request his assistance when he did jobs out of the sense of responsibility rather than for reward. Unfortunately, he looked in too deep as some bad memories resurface, him slaying the smith that forged his scythe and his daughter out of his own greed. He looked back to the crowd of children, this, accompanied with those memories, stirred up another emotion in him that he thought was long gone. Something heavy, something that made him… worried. Was this guilt? "Hey… Mister?"

"I… Need to tend to my horse for a few moments. If you will excuse me." Galtier moved at a brisk pace as he opens the doors to go outside. "Well, that is certainly unfitting of him," Limera remarked.

"You noticed it too, huh?" Fray replied. "By the looks of things, he remembered something he shouldn't."

"Should we go and check on him?"

Fray was about to make his response when he noticed one of the girls put on her boots and winter jacket, opening and closing the door quietly as she sneaks her way outside. "It would do best not to interfere. You go make sure no one gets hurt, I'll watch what goes on here."

"Alright." Limera took the role as the supervisor and watched the children along with Sheryl while Fray observed the events outside.

Galtier was making sure none of his horse's armor was out of place and readjusted the saddle, all the while he was still pondering as to what happened back there. _What are these feelings? Why am I only feeling them now? Was it because of those children?_ He kept asking himself several questions to find some reasoning behind his conundrum when he was snapped out of his trance by the familiar feeling of being poked at his side. He turned to see the same girl from before, looking at him with curious eyes. "It's you. What do you want from me?"

"Are you feeling alright Gal-tee-eh?" She still could not say his name properly, but he did not seem to care. "It is none of your concern. You would do well to go back inside and join the others." He turned back to his horse as he re-fastened the buckles on the horse's leg guards.

"And why not?" The girl was very inquisitive on this, it appeared she will not be convinced to turn back that easily.

"Why would you involve yourself with me?" He asked back.

"You looked a bit sad earlier, so I wanted to see if I could cheer you up."

"'Sad'?" he huffed. "I am not sad."

The little girl pouted. "You're hiding something, aren't you?" For a little girl, she was surprisingly observant, but he was not going to give her the chance.

"I do not know what you are talking about, I have nothing to hide."

"Then why did you leave? You seemed like you were having fun earlier." another accurate statement, she was backing him to a corner.

"I only wanted some fresh air, and to check up on my horse." he reposted.

The little girl continued to pout. After a few seconds, she asked once more. "Did you do something bad?"

It was at this point he stopped what he was doing. He was running out of excuses and any other statement he could give her would be futile. "So what if I did?"

The girl took a few moments to come up with yet another question. "You… hurt someone, did you?" This time Galtier had no comeback to her statement, he stood silent, head looking down onto the snow. "Young lady, do not test me." His voice sounded agitated this time, he was getting impatient with the girl's nonstop questions. She did not relent, still fixated on him with a curious expression as she walked up to him. "Sis said that it's bad to keep secrets."

"That woman taught you that?" He snorted. "There are some secrets that are better kept well hidden." when he looked back he saw that the girl was mere inches away from him, her expression remained the same. "Who did you hurt?" she inquired.

"Fine then, if it would keep you quiet…" He took a few moments to recollect himself before he divulged another part of his life. "I had a smith forge my weapon, made from the fangs of the wolf I had slain. It was sheer perfection, no blade could come close to it. I did not want anyone else to have a weapon like this so I…" His voice trailed off, not wanting to explain further. The girl took this as a hint that he indeed did something awful, she poked him again. "I'm sure that they would have forgiven you for what you did."

The knight chuckled at the girl's attempt to reassure him. "You are a naive one, aren't you? Do you really think forgiveness comes that easily?"

The girl nodded in reply. Her innocence was both comical and admirable at the same time, though considering he was talking to an orphan of all people, she would have some foundation to her beliefs. "And how would you know?"

The girl looks down. "My Mommy and Daddy were taken away by some bad man too. I would hate him too, but I was taught that things happen for a reason. Maybe that man wanted to steal because he had nothing. Even though they don't look like it, they probably would feel sorry deep down, right?"

"You are right on that, but…" Galtier was immediately cut off.

"Even if she does hate you, it doesn't last forever. Besides, now isn't the time for hate, it's Christmas after all." She said with a smile.

"You are confident in this holiday, aren't you?"

"It's not so much about getting the things you want, it's about sharing and spending time with people that care about you. It's also the time where people should get along, even if they hate each other." Her smile continued to grow wider and wider. Galtier chuckled not only of the irony that he was being lectured by a child, but also the concept of the holiday. Just what is it about this holiday that gets everyone in such a happy mood? Is it really possible that for that girl to forgive him on in this holiday? His head was a little sore from all the thinking he had to do. Feeling defeated, he had no choice. "Fine, I concede. If you think that I could even be forgiven, then maybe I will keep an open mind on the holiday."

"Yay! The girl jumped for joy, most likely feeling proud that she accomplished something. "Come on! The others want to play with you!"

At this point he did not seem to mind, whatever that girl did, it seemed to make him more open. "Fine then, we will do things your way." With that, the child grabbed him by the arm and pulled him towards the orphanage. As they made their way inside, the kids crossed over to the knight and asked the same question as before. "Are you going to play with us now?"

Galtier nodded. "I will join you in your little games. Make this entertaining." The kids all cheered as they pulled him into a game of tag, with him being "it". Fray looked at this with another smile, happy to know things were all going very well, and that his prediction would be correct. _I guess the whole "epiphany over the holidays" trope isn't all that exaggerated as they portray them in the media._ He thought. This randomness continued on for a few hours until the sun began to set.

The door softly creaked open as an elderly man walked inside, eyeing at what is happening around him with delight. "Oho." He chuckled. "Well, this is a lovely surprise." The children turned around to face the old man, who served as the head caretaker of the orphanage. "Mr. Hostanus!" They shouted as they all gathered around him. The old man chuckled again "It has certainly gotten quite lively here while I was gone." He then faced Sheryl and Fray "You two certainly know how to bring the energy in here."

"You asked us to look after the children, we like to add a little more excitement," Fray replied.

"Indeed you have," he smiled. He looked over to Galtier. "Hmm. He is a new unit, I reckon?"

"Yes, Mr. Hostanus. You should see how he played with the children earlier." Fray chuckled. The knight simply stood there, hiding an embarrassed look underneath the shadow that obscured his face. Mr. Hostanus walked over to Galtier with a warm smile. "You don't know how happy it makes me feel seeing these children smile. I hope you continue to come back to visit us again."

Galtier bowed. "It would be an honor."

"I suppose that's my cue to leave," Fray announced. "I forgot that I still haven't decorated my house yet. Are you going to be alright?" he asked Sheryl. She shook her head in reply. "I'll be fine. I know my family will be back soon, so go on and enjoy yourself."

Fray looked back to the caretaker. "Sorry I have to go off like this, but you know how the holidays are."

"Oh, of course," said Mr. Hostanus. "Take care, and Merry Christmas to you all."

"Merry Christmas." He and his units waved goodbye to the children. Galtier faced to the little girl from earlier., she was waving ecstatically. "Bye Galtier!" She shouted. _Finally, she gets my name right._ He thought. He waved back as he made his exit, walking over to his horse to detach the reins and mounted on his horse.

"You did very well out there, Galtier. I didn't think you would come out of that shell."

The Knight gave no reply, not wanting to give his summoner the satisfaction of responding to any of his quips. "I'm serious, I don't think I've seen the children that happy before."

Limera chimed in. "Maybe the next time we visit, we could both tell some stories. They'll love it!"

Galtier motioned his horse to exit the gate. "Perhaps..." Was all he said as he rode off into the direction leading back to the Village of the Venturer, leaving the two behind.

"He definitely liked it." Limera smiled.

"Yep." Fray nodded. "Well, time to make sure he doesn't slip some ice patch again."

"Right!" The two ran off after Galtier again, much like this morning, running back to their home with the sunset slowly setting on the horizon, and a sense of ease and comfort still fresh on all their minds.

* * *

 **Fray belongs to Cryptek12, I hope this chapter is to your liking as well. Sorry if Galtier took much of the spotlight. I had this crazy idea and with the holidays coming up, I just couldn't resist.**


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey! What the- WHOA!" The shouting of a young woman screaming outside prompted everyone in the house to wake up to see what was going on. A girl with long black hair opened the window and looked out with her purple eyes, still somewhat drowsy from the sudden awakening. It took some time for her eyes to adjust to the setting. As her vision cleared, she was able to make out a pink-haired girl lying face first on a snow covered mattress. Two other women, whom she recognized as her units, stood at a safe distance, cringing at the sight. "Works like a charm." She grinned. To her fortune, the traps she had set in her backyard were working adequately, her cousin Shimmer was proof of that.

Ever since the last few incidents where someone tried to break into her house, ranging from stray monsters to burglars to Shimmer's need for sweets, she had opted to add some security measures to insure both the safety of her and the units as well as any possessions she had owned. Considering the fact that she lived in a rather spacious house whose appearance resembled that of a mansion's that was placed well away from Randall, who would not take the opportunity to try to sneak in there? The measures she took ranged from pitfalls, electrical barriers, and mines that released sleeping powder when activated to tripwires hidden in the grass, turrets that fired tranquilizer darts and spring-loaded panels like the one Shimmer had just had the misfortune of triggering. In addition to those, she had also recently installed a security system in case anyone had the guile to go through the front entrance. The amount traps she had all around the house were absurd but was subsidized by the amount of zel she had obtained through missions assigned by the summoners hall. Needless to say, the rewards they provide helped covered the expenses and then some.

"Why do you have so many traps Lunar?!" Shimmer shouted, her voice was muffled due to still lying face-down on the mattress.

"Do you like to have your house be invaded by random strangers every now and then?" Lunar quipped.

"Good point…" Shimmer tumbled out of the mattress, rolling towards Lunar's house. Her units followed suit, making sure they did not end up activating the traps themselves. One of Lunar's own units, A green haired man donned in a green tunic and a flowing blue cape, opened the back door to let the trio come inside.

"Thanks, Dion." the fox girl thanked him with a rather disappointed tone. Dion did not give so much as a glance at her as he waited for the other two to come inside, promptly shutting the door afterward.

"Don't tell me you were trying to steal one of my toffees again?" Lunar sighed as she made her way downstairs, still dressed in her pajamas.

"Maybe," Shimmer replied with a nonchalant tone. It was obvious that she was attempting to sneak in for that reason.

Lunar abruptly walks over to a shelf in the kitchen. She rummaged around before tossing a box of toffees toward Shimmer. This made her blink in confusion. "What's with the sudden kindness?" She asked, taken aback by the gesture.

"It's the Christmas season, right?" Lunar answered with a smile. "Consider that my early gift to you."

"Aww, I didn't think you had the heart." Shimmer teased as she opened the box.

Lunar did not need to counter her cousin's remarks this time as she already had one put in place. Just as she placed her hand into the box to take out one of the toffees, a quick snapping sound followed by the shrill cry of Shimmer echoed throughout the room. "Oww!" A small mouse trap snapped itself onto Shimmer's index finger, she quickly pried it off and glared at Lunar. "That was totally unfair!" She cried.

"Well, you did try to break into my house again. And think of that as payback for waking me up earlier. Also, it was Semira's idea." She pointed to another one of her units, a skimpy sorceress with a rather massive horned helmet stood to the side with a sly smile while holding a plastic bag, most likely containing more mouse traps.

Shimmer's two units, one a fox girl and the other a blue haired female knight whose fashion maintained the trend of the other female units in the group wearing revealing clothing, stood with blank expressions on their faces. Lunar let out a loud yawn and stretched as she looked outside. Well, it's morning now. What do you think we should do?"

"Didn't you say you were going to go shopping for decorations today?" Dion asked, pointing to a small slip of paper attached to the refrigerator. "Oh yeah!" Her mood quickly perked up as she had completely forgot about the idea. She had already bought and set up the tree with her units, all that needs to be done now was to get decorations. "I'm going to get changing! I'll be right back!" She quickly dashed her way upstairs and into her room, leaving the others with some free time before she came back.

"Well, has anything happened to you three lately?" The knight asked.

"Except for the anniversary that was held at the summoners hall last month and the antics that happened prior to today, there is nothing noteworthy," Dion stated.

"How about you three?" Semira asked as she floated towards them to join in on the conversation.

"It was boring!" The Fox Girl whined. "Other than Shimmer plotting to see how she can get through your Summoner's defenses!" She pointed at the two with a comically angered expression.

"Do you think it's easy to set all those traps?" Dion reposted. "It was annoying that even we nearly activated them just by setting them up."

"But you guys know the layout!"

"What is it about 'we nearly activated them just by setting them up' do you not understand?"

"You could've made it easier for us!"

"Not my problem, ask my summoner."

"But you could've done something about it!"

The two began to bicker, the other three ladies stood there with the same blank expressions as before turning over to their own conversation. "What about you, Medina?" Semira asked the other unit.

"Same as what Ruby said." She sighed. "There were no quests available lately, and the raid office had nothing to offer either, so we had to put up with our own summoners antics."

"Why are you making me look like the bad guy here?" Shimmer retorted, already having taken one of the toffees from the box and chewing on it.

"Well, with Christmas coming just around the corner, and the fact we have yet to do anything, so this may be the opportunity to get our spirits up."

"Well, you guys can go shopping, I'll stay here and see if I can't find any-" Shimmer was immediately cut off as Lunar quickly ran downstairs, already in her winter attire, and pulled Shimmer by her sleeve.

"Nuh-uh! You're coming with us whether you like it or not!" Lunar definitely knew that Shimmer was going to look for her secrets while she was gone, so she quickly prevents her from getting the chance by bringing her along with her excursion. "H-Hey! Wait!" Shimmer protested as she was immediately pulled outside. Medina let out a disappointed sigh. "Here's to another senseless day…" She groaned.

"I'm sure things will turn around later. Come on, Jack!" Semira called to her friend, who served as her teacher, guardian, and servant simultaneously. "Right, My lady!" Cried out an oversized pumpkin mounted on a staff as it floated to her side. One by one, the units began to walk out of the house, Ruby and Dion were the last ones out, with the latter locking the door and arming the security systems before going back to Ruby for another round of pointless bickering.

The group walked along the trail for a while before entering the borders of the Imperial Capital, making their way towards the shopping district for some supplies. The area was still festive as usual, and it was evident the excitement for the holidays was not going to die down. They proceeded to walk around, browsing through the abundance of stores to find anything that catches their eye. Lunar faltered her pace a little in order to get a good view of the shops that strikes her fancy, all the while she kept a firm grip on Shimmer's arm. Shimmer herself was still feeling a little uncomfortable not only with the fact she was dragged out by her older cousin against her will again but the plethora of passersby around them. Needless to say, the streets were still packed, and any wrong step could get someone lost.

The units were still trailing behind their summoners, with Ruby and Dion still bickering as some began to stare at them with uneased looks while Semira and Medina were watching over the two with concerned expressions from the attention they were gathering. Medina then took the initiative. "I know you two do not like each other, but now is not a good time to argue" She pointed at the large crowd who were staring at the two for their bickering.

"Fine." Dion and Ruby simultaneously said before continuing to walk, their heads lowered as they both had mixed feelings of anger and embarrassment.

"Well now," Semira chuckled with delight. "If I had to guess, these two sound a lot like an old married couple."

"Shut up!" Dion and Ruby both shouted in unison, albeit in different volumes.

Semira giggled once more, showing she got an emotional rise out of watching the reactions of the pair. Both Dion and Ruby faced forward as they continued to catch up with their Summoners, looking more embarrassed than before. The sorceress looked over to Medina with a mischievous grin. "I don't see how you cannot find this amusing."

"Maybe to you it's amusing," Medina sighed. "But when you have traveled with them in your past life long enough, it becomes aggravating after a while."

"Oh? Well, I guess I'll have to enjoy every second of it until I get bored." This comment made the two cringe. Knowing Semira's love for tricks, her interest in someone else's shenanigans were on par with Lunar's interest in couples. They both clearly see eye to eye and they both had common interests, which meant they would also be subject to Semira's observation in addition to Lunar's snarky comments, which made the two all the more embarrassed.

Lunar in the meantime began walking towards a large store that sold exactly what she was looking for, she entered the store along with Shimmer to be greeted by a rather flashy scene. In the store were aisles upon aisles of Christmas decorations of various shapes and sizes, and the numerous colorful lights in addition to the store's fluorescent lights illuminated the vicinity in a variety of colors. To a child, this would look very spectacular, in some way Lunar felt like a child herself, looking at the lights with wonder, her trance was broken as Shimmer complained again. "Why do you need so many decorations? You have plenty at home."

"Because you can never have too many decorations!" it was a simple and obvious reply coming from her. Given the situation, she was in no position to argue with Lunar. Then again, decorating was one of the many fun things to do during the holidays, so she decided to go with the flow. The two began to browse through the store, collecting different items that caught their interest. As Lunar was filling the basket she had to the brim, Shimmer's eyes widened as she came across a particular aisle. "Look at all the cute stuffed animals!" She squealed, standing near the aisles that were filled with stuffed animals that wore little wool hats, scarves, and mittens. She had her own basket and began stuffing it with a few plushies, now looking just as hyper as Lunar.

The units, on the other hand, did not share the same level of excitement as their summoners, but they seemed rather comfortable with the setting as they too began collecting decorations as well. Dion, in particular, looked around with a disinterested look, staring blankly at the decorations with a perpetual frown. Ruby quickly shoved a stuffed penguin on his face. "Why don't you smile for once?" she asked. "It's the holidays after all!" Dion brushed the plushie aside as he maintained an aloof exterior. "I don't have a reason to, that's why."

"That's not a good reason to be a bore! You should be more lively like the rest of us! Even Medina is smiling!" She pointed over to Medina, who also was walking in the stuffed animals aisle. At the mention of her name, she tensed up, hiding an embarrassed look from Ruby. Semira stood at a safe distance away from her, looking at the poor knight with a sly grin.

"Like I said, I don't have a reason to, that's all." He walked around, still helping with his summoner in obtaining more decorations, while Ruby trailed behind him, wondering how else she could counter his previous statement. The fox that served as her companion ran up to Dion and headbutted the back of his right foot, to which the latter simply shrugged it off and proceeded to walk to the counter along with Lunar. His apathy towards the Christmas season was starting to strike a nerve on Ruby, who found this to be quite stubborn.

After buying what they needed, the group went over to the counter to pay for their items and promptly walked back to Lunar's house. Everyone was holding some large bag or box, even Jack helped out holding the straps of two of the bags with his teeth. During the walk, Ruby was contemplating on Dion's lack of interest in the holiday's. Sure, she had already celebrated this occasion several times before, and she was fully aware that Dion has been with Lunar since she summoned for the very first time she was a young girl, but she had never thought about it until now. Did he like Christmas? Did he hate it? He was a reserved individual, not one to show his feelings that easily. She kept thinking about it as they arrived at the house, bringing all the decorations inside.

"Alright!" Lunar announced. "Now onto the fun part, decorating the house. Shimmer, you and Medina help me decorate the inside while Dion, Ruby, and Semira can help decorate outside. Is that clear?" Everyone else nodded, satisfied with their jobs. "Okay! Time to get decorating!" The group split up and took a box, with Lunar's side containing ornaments, garlands, and a few lights while Dion's had lights, a few inflatable Santa, and a few inflatable snowmen.

Once outside, Semira took flight along with Jack, carrying the deflated Santa and a bundle of cords respectively, and began working on the roof. Dion and Ruby also got another bundle of lights and proceeded to work on the lower part of the house. Despite the low temperatures outside, the two ladies felt next to nothing, though in Ruby's case the only thing she was feeling was the nagging curiosity. In little time at all, they both managed to wrap the lower end of the house. All that needed to be done now was to set up the inflatable snowmen, which should not be too big a task.

It took less time to set up the snowmen compared to setting up the lights, Dion inserted the cords to an outlet and watched as the snowmen inflated one by one. Likewise, Semira had already finished setting up the inflatable Santa and watched it light up and inflate. With the outdoor decorations done, they began to walk back into the house to see how the rest were doing.

Most of the house's interior was already decorated with garlands and more lights similar to the ones that hung outside. The tree was also decorated, shining just as brightly as the lights around them. All that needed to be done now was to hang up the stockings on the wall. As they were doing so, a knock came at the door. "Huh? I wonder who that could be." She wondered. She ran towards the front door to greet whoever was on her front porch.

Standing in the doorway was a young man with gray hair dressed in an overall dark attire. Two people stood behind him, one a petite green-haired female dressed in an elegant gothic dress and the other a man dressed in a bright ornate armor, both she recognized as the units Tora and Sirius. Though the man's overall appearance seems somewhat grim, she knew who he was. "Hiya, James! How can I help you?"

James held out an envelope, which was addressed to Lunar. She quickly ripped it open and pulled out an invitation to a Christmas party. "Ooh! A party!" she eyed the invitation with intrigue.

"Yes, Valerie decided to host this party to celebrate the holidays. She thought it would be fun if others got in as well and she was hoping you could come as well."

"Of course!" she replied. A party meant a few things: Sweets, randomness, and potential couples she could document into her book. The uncomfortable expression James had on his face only served to prove that the last point was definitely true.

"Thanks, she also says you can bring anyone you like to the party. 'The more, the merrier', she says."

"Sure, I can't wait!" She said.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to deliver the rest of the invitations, have a nice day."

"You too!" "She waved goodbye to James, who was being pulled along the trail by his units as they apparently made their way back to Randall to resume their delivery roles. Lunar closed the door behind her and ran into the living room, waving the invitation into the air. "We got a party!" She shouted. "And you're coming along!" She pointed straight at Shimmer. "Wh-Wha?! Me?"

"Of course! It'll be fun!"

"I can't wait!" Shimmer cried. Even though that she would have to deal with strangers, there were still sweets to be had, and she could not wait to get their hands on them. As this was going on, Ruby took the opportunity to ask Dion, who sat on a chair in a corner reading a book. "Answer me honestly, do you like Christmas?"

"This now?" He sighed. "Why are you being so pushy today?"

"Because I want to know! Do you like it or not?" She asked again. Dion turned away from her. Muttering something in a volume Ruby could not hear. She grabbed him by the shoulders, her face shifted to a more serious glare, not wanting to put up with Dion's stubborn attitude. "Answer me!" Everyone else in the room fell silent as they focused their attention on the pair.

"I… don't care." He muttered again, this time it was more audible. Being part-fox, she easily picked up on what he said, even if everyone else did not. "What?!" She shouted. "How could you not like Christmas?!"

"I simply don't care for it." he replied.

This response made her even more upset. "How could you not care for it?! Unless…" She thought for a few seconds before forming her reasoning. "You're still not over that fight with Ark, are you?!"

"What makes you say that?" Dion asked, remaining as placid as ever.

"Don't give me that! I know you still are thinking about that rematch! How typical of you!" She began to rant on how Dion's cliched desire to seek strong opponents to sate his boredom correlated to his disdain for the holidays. All the while Dion shook his head in disbelief, thinking that she was merely being delusional. "It's not that," He began. "It's…"

"What?!"

He opened his mouth to say something, but no words could come out. For the first time, he did not have a proper counter to Ruby's quips. He honestly could not find the details to help make a response. Seeing his lack of initiative to counter, Ruby took this as him not wanting to answer the question, which made her all the angrier. "Of course! Typical stubborn Dion! I don't have time for this nonsense!" Dion tried to call out to Ruby, wanting to knock some sense into her, but she had already walked off towards her summoner, asking her in a hushed tone. "Can we go now? I don't want to stay here any longer."

"U-Umm but why?" Shimmer asked. Ruby remained silent, though the expression she had was enough of a hint for her to understand why. She then gave in to Ruby's request. "Alright then, If you say so" She then turned to her cousin. "Well, I hope we managed to help you guys out. See you guys at the party?"

"Yep! See ya, Shimmer!" Lunar waved her cousin goodbye as she saw them off. The last to exit was Medina, who gazed at Dion with an expression that clearly said, "Whatever you did, you're fixing it." before quietly closing the door behind her.

Lunar also faced Dion, looking very cross. "What did you do Dion?" She asked. Dion restated his claim, which unfortunately made Lunar all the more upset. "I know you don't care about Christmas, but couldn't you just act like it at least once?"

"I didn't even know that she loved the holiday this much." Dion scratched his head.

"Regardless, you still have to take responsibility for it," Lunar replied bluntly, something she rarely does. "Just because we have this party coming up doesn't mean that you could sit around and do nothing."

"And what do you suppose I should do about it?"

"You got yourself into this mess, you figure it out," Lunar replied before yawning. "That was a long day, Imma head to bed, good night everybody!" She made her way upstairs, hoping that she could sleep the nonsense off. Semira patted Dion on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find a way. If you'll excuse me, I too must retire. Pleasant dreams." She floated upstairs heading over to her own quarters, leaving Dion all by himself. _Just one opinion, and I become the bad guy here?_ Dion sighed, once again expressing his dismay after what happened. He did not know why Ruby became all "White-Knight" for the holiday nor could he have expected this change to occur. One thing was for certain, only he could get himself out of this, he had to set things right. _It can't be helped, I suppose..._ He thought, resigning to his fate.

* * *

 **Lunar and Shimmer belong to LunarRin. I hope this chapter was to your liking. How will Dion get himself out of this bind? Well, we'll just see.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Time for another change in direction. I'll be featuring two scenario's involving the units that would probably come off as one-shots. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Scenario 1: A friendly competition. (Vargas and Lava)

 _During the events of chapter 4..._

As the units had free time to explore the area while Ace and Evy were busy, Vargas showed Lava around the currently festive Randall, showing her the sights. Lava, on the other hand, did not share the same amount of enthusiasm as Vargas, she was still looking at her surroundings with a deadpan expression. Underneath her uncaring exterior, however, she did feel a sense of intrigue. The amount of dedication put into the holiday was commendable, and the sight was something she had yet to see. Everyone seemed happy, and even Vargas seemed less of a hothead than usual. What is it about this occasion that can change a person? Vargas himself noticed that Lava was spacing out and asked her, "Hey. Are you okay?" Lava said nothing, still lost in thought. "OI!" Vargas shouted.

This snapped her out of her trance, though she punched Vargas in the face out of reflex. The force of the unexpected punch caused Vargas to slip on an icy patch and fell on his behind. "Ow!" He shouted as he rubbed the side of his face. Lava's eyes widened from what she had done. "Sorry…" She apologized and helped him back up. Vargas simply chuckled in reply. "What's so funny?" She asked him.

"Your face. It's priceless." He smiled.

Oddly enough, Lava's face grew red from embarrassment from Vargas' remark. "A-Are you trying to belittle me?" She stuttered.

"N-No! It's not like that at all!" Vargas replied. "It's the first time I've seen you like that, actually. Now that I think about it, you're not as harsh as before."

Vargas was right, she indeed had changed. She had become more lively, and her abrasive side had mostly disappeared. She never wanted to admit it, but Vargas was the catalyst for her change in behavior, it was after her victory against him that she began to open up more and found a different calling than just being a tool for the empire. Though their reasons are different, both shared the same desire of growing stronger. This also gave her the desire to return the favor, she wanted a rematch to test their strength as much as Vargas did, but never was able to get the chance due to the events that led up to both their demises. Recalling those memories made her feel a little empty inside. Her train of thought was soon derailed as she was brought back by Vargas' shouting again. "OI! What's with you today?"

Lava did not reply, she was still feeling a little down from nostalgia. Quick to spot that something was wrong, Vargas had to think fast on how to lift her spirits again. He did not need to think long and hard as he quickly took Lava by the arm again. "Where are you taking me this time?" Lava sighed.

"Close your eyes until I say so!" Vargas replied.

"I don't have the time for games, Vargas."

"Just do it! I promise you won't regret it!"

Lava sighed and did as he instructed. She had no clue where he was going with this, but knowing him, it would probably be-

"Okay, we're here!"

 _That was quick._ She thought as she slowly opened her eyes. She found herself standing on a rooftop of one of the larger buildings of Randall, overlooking the majority of the Imperial Capital. "What are we doing here?" She asked Vargas.

"I thought we might have a little competition." He replied, his fiery wings igniting. "Nothing like a good race to get the blood flowing."

"Fine, Where's the finish line?"

"We start from here, then make our way to the synthesizers guild, then to the research lab, and end at the survey office." Vargas pointed to the castle that stood upon a pyramid-like structure that was the summoner's hall survey office.

"Sounds interesting enough. But what will the winner get?"

"Well, nothing. It's just for fun. Nothing to gain, but nothing to lose either."

"Fine then," Lava walked up to the edge of the building with Vargas, both their wings flapped as they prepared to take the drop. "One…"

"Two…"

"Three!" they both shouted as they both leaped off the building, performing nose dives. The wind blowing in their faces fueled them both with adrenaline, but the snow that was pelting them made it slightly difficult for them to see. After a few seconds of falling, they both spread their wings to use the momentum to gain a head start, with Vargas pulling up just a few seconds after Lava. She was already ahead of him, and very quick too. Not wanting to give her the edge, he flapped his wings, increasing his speed in hopes to close the gap.

Lava in the meantime was maintaining her velocity, eyes concentrated to the path ahead of her, though once again the snow made it difficult for her to keep her eyes open. She did not need to turn around to figure out that Vargas was quickly catching up. She quickly dived down, using the speed gained from the descent to help her stay ahead of him, as she got a closer look at the streets below, she found herself entranced at the many lights that shown below they all shone with different colors, and the snowfall helped compliment to the already impressive sight. She had not given thought to the scenery until now. There was something about looking at the streets from a bird's eye view that made it all the more wondrous, the festive setting definitely improved it tenfold. She found herself so caught up in the sights that she completely forgot she was diving. She quickly dived back up, only to see that Vargas was already ahead of her, having already passed the building that was the synthesizers guild.

She quickly regained focus as she turned her attention towards the fortress-like building that was the Research Laboratory. Vargas turned around to make sure Lava was still within sight, seeing her flustered face showed that the plan he had was working. He slowed down a little, allowing her to catch up to him while trying to give her the opportunity to immerse her into the holiday setting a little more. Just as he predicted, Lava had caught up in no time at all and passed Vargas, having already reaching the Research Laboratory and made a sharp to the direction of the Summoners Hall. Vargas followed behind her, making no attempt of trying to catch up to her.

As she made her way towards the summoners hall she looked down at the streets again and was once again immersed by the bustling city streets before. Just like before, she found herself wanting a better look and found herself straying from the trail. Realizing her foolishness, she abruptly tries to increase her attitude, but she was moving at such a speed that she would not be able to do so in time. Onlookers looked up in fright as they spotted Lava plummeting to the ground at high speed, promptly fleeing the area. Just as she was going to brace for impact, she felt someone grip her forearm and pulled her back up, much to the fortune to the passersby below. "I guess I have to look after you now." Vargas chuckled as he pulled her along, moving towards the summoners hall. Lava remained silent, looking down with embarrassment.

He brought her over to the top of the castle-like structure atop the circular step pyramid building that was the Summoners hall, there he sat down and admired the view of the city. He looked over to Lava, who seemed to be just as impressed with the city as he was. "Like the view?" He asked.

Lava nodded. "After getting a better look at it… I still don't understand why such things are celebrated."

"Well, that's because you got your head wrapped around in the battlefield to notice it." He smiled, most likely trying to wisecrack.

Lava scoffed, she could easily say the same for him, if it was not for the fact he was looking very relaxed right now."Why dedicate so much to just that one day? I don't get it."

"Me neither," Vargas replied. "But I suppose there is something about waiting for one day that makes it a lot better than just celebrating it every day."

Lava thought for a moment. _I guess there is some worth in waiting._ She thought. _Still… just what is it about the holiday that changes someone?_

"There's something on this holiday that just… brings everyone together, you know? He said, almost as if he read her mind. "At first I felt like it was the same as every day, but now I just look forward to it every year like everyone else." He beamed a smile.

Lava knew Vargas was not the best at trying to explain things clearly, but he certainly knew more about the holiday more than she did. "Then I would like to see it as well. Perhaps you can show me more."

This request made Vargas baffled, it was rare for her to request any assistance on trivial matters, let alone asking himself of all people. He was not sure whether he should feel very proud of himself or feel incredibly uncomfortable, but he continued to smile. "I'd be happy to. Maybe we should-" he was cut off mid-sentence by the sound of a distant explosion. Concerned, they both looked over in the distance to see smoke rising from a building, no doubt there was trouble brewing. It was far, but very noticeable from their location. "We may as well hold that thought for now. We got problems."

"Do you think our summoner knows about it?"

"No doubt Maybe after we take care of this, I'd be happy to show you around."

"I'll be looking forward to it."

The two began to leap off from the rooftops, flying towards the source of the disturbance to assist their summoners, all the while they did not notice they were holding each other's hands.

* * *

...

* * *

Scenario 2: A not-so-quiet stroll (Quaid and Diana)

The Guardians of Meirith, the group that worshiped and served under the Holy Emperor Karna Masta with the purpose of spreading the word of the Gods and carry out their will. Having such an important role meant that they would be working all throughout the year; this time, however, it seemed that fortune smiled over the group as they had been given a short respite from the many missions they had taken. The festivities that occurred during the winter were happening, so the timing of the break could not be any better.

The dormitory next to a seminary in the La Veda Republic where the Guardians resided was rather lively, the usually serious atmosphere of the area was replaced with that of the excitement befitting for the holidays. Colt and Claire were off outside somewhere spending some sibling bonding time while Ivris was out as well, most likely following after the pair for her own amusement. Fadahl, like the fervent follower of the Gods he was, took the opportunity to go to a chapel and pray to give thanks, leaving just Quaid and Diana by themselves to figure out how to spend the few days they had a break.

Quaid stared at the window, looking at the snow-covered setting outside with the usual grin. "The winds are just right…" he muttered. Diana in the meantime was looking rather fidgety, wondering whether or not she should make the initiative to ask Quaid how she felt about him, but a part of her always insisted 'not yet' and refrained her from doing so. She sat down reading a random book, all the while she made glances at Quaid every now and then. After a while, Quaid turned around to face Diana and made a rather simple suggestion of what to do. "How about we go for a walk?" he asked.

The sudden delivery of the request caught her off guard and made her flustered. "Wh-what?! Why me?!" She shouted.

"Why not?" he answered. "It looks rather nice out and I'd hate to waste it all indoors."

"But that doesn't answer my question. Why me? Why not invite anyone else?"

"The rest are out and Fadahl would only kick me out if I tried, so I thought you'd come with me."

Diana was at a loss as to how should she respond. A walk sounded nice, and this would be the excellent opportunity to get close to Quaid. But her anxiety was holding her back, making it harder for her to decide. "So are you coming or what?" Quaid asked her again, maintaining his smile. She remained silent, looking rather nervous. "Alright then, If you don't want to go then I guess I'll-"

"I'll go." She made her response after what felt like a long, grueling mental battle.

"Alright then!" He shouted. "I'm going to get changed, you better do the same too!"

"F-Fine…" The two went off to their rooms to change, donning a more casual attire rather than their usual uniforms.

Quaid finished first and stood outside by the doors, donning a forest green jacket, beige pants and his signature red scarf that was reminiscent of his usual gear, albeit the lack of armor plating with the signature red cross emblem that signified his role as a Guardian of Meirith. He was rather patient, biding his time outside by trying to catch snowflakes with his tongue. After a while, Diana exits the dormitory, wearing a more modest attire of a warm, long-sleeved dress, brown boots, and black leggings. Like Quaid, the color scheme of her attire resembled that of her uniform, though in her case she was dressed up more modestly than before. She faced away from Quaid, still looking rather nervous of showing herself to him. "You look great!" Quaid smiled, which made Diana all the more embarrassed. "C-Can we just go already?" she stuttered.

"Sure!" The two then left the seminary, heading towards the city for a nice stroll.

The streets were looking exceptionally bright, houses and shops being lit up by the decorative lights that hung around them. The attitude of the common folk matched the overall setting of the area: cheerful, bright and overall optimistic. Some recognized the two and greeted them with respect. Quaid shared the same feeling as his eyes darted around looking at his surroundings with child-like fascination, ignoring the gazes of those around him. Diana, on the other hand, was not as calm, looking more and more anxious by the second. The people knew who they were, and she was worried that they would garner a great deal of attention. Much to her fortune, they did not crowd around them and went back to their own devices. The two continued to walk, admiring the view around them. Diana continues to question on how to make her advancement. _How am I going to do this? Should I bring him somewhere? Buy something? Oh… what to do…?_ She looks like at Quaid, who still looked around like a kid while being unaware of her dilemma.

The two walked around in silence, wandering around the republic doing nothing but stare at the festive sights around them. Diana was starting to feel a little irritated with the lack of interaction, getting impatient with every second. "Are we just walking out here and nothing else?"

"Yep!" He replied. "I wanted to take a different pace and just unwind with a little stroll and take in the sights. Is there something wrong with that?"

He certainly wasn't wrong about that. With the ever increasing difficulty of each mission they were assigned, it was progressively becoming taxing on the body and mind. For once, Quaid chose a logical idea, there was no way anyone could perform a mission with a clouded mind, even if their bodies were in the uppermost shape. "No… There isn't." She replied. She felt her impatience receding as she continued to look around with Quaid, pointing at the various lights and decorations while he did the same. Little by little, Diana felt a little comfortable, she certainly did not feel brave enough to confess yet, but she was not as nervous as before. Along the way, they spotted a familiar trio, one male, and two female.

"Aww, look at this cat, Colt!" Said a young girl whose hair was tied into twin tails, pointing at a stuffed cat behind the window of one of the shops.

"Tell me why we have to bring Ivris along with us?" Asked a blue-haired man wearing a jacket that matched it's color.

"Well we couldn't just leave her back at the Seminary." replied an older woman with the same hair color as the man and had an almost identical look to him, albeit wearing a red jacket. "Her sister isn't here, so what else should we do?"

Colt could not object, whatever his sister says, goes. Who was he to go against her? All he could do was to put up with Ivris' shenanigans for the time being. Ivris was tugging at Colt's coat tails. "You heard her! Can we go inside? Please?" the girl begged.

"No." He declined the offer.

"Oh come on!" she whined. "I just want to go inside!"

"Come now, Colt." the older woman said. "Just give her a chance, we don't get excursions like this every day."

Colt stood silent for a few moments, his sister's persuasion was all that was needed to make him relent. "Yes, Claire." He then turned towards Ivris. "Fine, we'll go inside."

"Thanks, Colt!" The girl leaped for joy. She was about to enter the store when she spotted two familiar individuals walking down the street. "Hey, Quaid! Hey, Diana!" She shouted to the pair, waving wildly.

Quaid waved back. "How's the day going for you guys?"

Claire replied, "We're doing fine, though I wish I could say the same for those two." She pointed over to Colt who shot a contemplative glare at Quaid and Ivris, who was eagerly waiting to go into the store.

"It seems you guys had fun then." Quaid chuckled, which made both Colt more upset and Diana cringe. Colt was about to make a complaint before an idea came to him. "Hey Quaid, do you mind if you look after Ivris?"

"Huh? Isn't that your job?" Quaid asked, but suddenly he had a thought. "Oh, I see. If you wanted to spend some sibling bonding time, why didn't you say so in the first place?"

Colt flinched. There was something about the way Quaid put it that made him more irritated, but he did not want to take any chances. If he could get both of them out at the same time, the day might go more smoothly. "Ye-Yeah…" He replied.

Quaid looked over to Claire next and smiled. "I'll take care of her, so you can go off and relax."

"Thanks, Quaid. Take care, and please make sure you don't make a fool of yourself out there." She turned around to face her brother. "Let's go Colt. Where do you want to go first?"

At that moment, Colt's expression quickly brightened up. "There is this place I wanted to see..." He then grabbed his sister by the wrist and pulled her her along with him, hiding his eagerness of getting away from the others under the guise of curiosity.

Without so much as a word, Ivris was already running inside towards the shop, leaving the two behind. "Well, I guess today will get even more fun." Quaid smiled as he followed after the young magician while Diana followed suit, looking somewhat disappointed with the sudden change of plans. The events that transpired were not noteworthy, The two followed Ivris around from random toy stores to bakeries to satisfy her childish needs and curiosity. This, at least to Diana, was slightly more favorable than a few hours of walking in silence. Ivris' cheery demeanor passed on to Quaid and was slowly affecting Diana too as they made their merry way around the city as if they had a little adventure of their own.

It was well around the afternoon after drifting from place to place, and they found themselves within a plaza. Ivris pointed towards a small stand that was selling candy and asked Quaid to get some for her. Without a second thought, he obliged and stood in line, leaving the two girls to chat as they waited for him to come back. Ivris nudged Diana to get her attention. "You haven't made a move yet?" She whispered.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Diana replied, trying to feign ignorance.

"Seriously?" the girl looked at her with a dubious expression. "I know you've had an eye out on Quaid for a while now. You should tell him how you feel!"

This remark made her blush. "Y-You make this sound too easy!"

"Well, you're the one who hasn't made any attempt." Ivris quipped. "I'm sure he'll understand."

"Since you're the expert on things like this, how am I supposed to get his attention then?" Diana countered.

It didn't take long for Ivris to come up with an idea. "I have a plan, just wait and see." She had a mischievous smile painted on her face, Diana was not sure what did she have planned, let alone if she actually had a plan or not. It was at this time Quaid returned, handing over a small bag of candy to Ivris. "So… where to next?" Quaid asked.

Ivris leaned close and whispered something into Diana's ear, giving her a random suggestion to relay over to Quaid. "Th-The park." Diana stuttered.

"To the park it is!" Quaid cried as he begins to walk ahead of the pair. Diana sighed, trying to muster up what courage she had inside and followed him, with Ivris trailing behind her, giving her some encouragement along the way.

In the span of a few minutes, the trio arrived in a clear field somewhere in the city, a few trees and shrubbery littered around the area with a few trails visible despite being covered in snow. Diana and Quaid walked along the trail, with the latter looking around and admiring the scenery. "I knew this is a good time for a walk..." he muttered. The sun was still shining, skies were clear, and a calm breeze was blowing throughout the area, these details served to support Quaid's claim. Diana, on the other hand, was not feeling as optimistic as Quaid. Despite having bundled up, she felt a little cold, shivering as the breeze continued to blow. It was hard to try to pay attention to Quaid while simultaneously trying to stay warm. She was too distracted to notice that a familiar red scarf was placed around her neck, which caught her off guard. "E-Eh?"

"You looked a little chilly." He said. "If that's not enough, I could also give you my jacket."

"N-No! This is good enough…"

"Alright." Quaid still smiled that same relaxed smile as he continued to walk, all the while Diana was looking slightly restless. Despite the encouragement that she received from Ivris, she was still unsure of herself. She turned around to ask her for advice, only to realized that she was not there. In the distance, she spotted her frolicking in the snowy field with a few children, which meant that she was left to fend for herself. Resolving to her current situation, she quickened her pace so that she could catch up to Quaid. They both continued to walk around the park, admiring the snow-covered scene around them. There was something about this setting while not in the middle of a battlefield that invoked a sense of relaxation in the two.

Diana found herself so immersed in the scenery that she did not notice that she was holding Quaid's had, to which he noticed. "Oh? What's this all of the sudden?" Snapping out of her trance, Diana realized her actions and became all the more flustered, which made Quaid laugh a little. "What's so funny?" She snapped. "Oh, I just found that face of yours very funny." As if she could not get any more embarrassed, her face turned into a deeper shade of red. "Hey… Are you okay?" he tilted his head in confusion, clearly not understanding her situation. His cluelessness was rather aggravating, to say the least, but this was to be expected. "Y-Yes, j-just nervous… that's all."

"Nervous? What for?"

"Ah. Umm… Nothing. Can we just keep walking?"

"Sure, whatever you say."

The two continued their stroll, much like what happened this morning, all they did was walk in silence as they randomly looked at their surroundings. They soon found themselves all alone, any chatter that they could hear were barely audible and there was no one in sight. The setting seemed almost too perfect, wanting to get it over with, Diana finally spoke up. "Q-Quaid…?"

"Yeah?"

"I, er, umm" She found herself struggling to get the words out. She had not rehearsed any lines on how to approach her confession, let alone possessed any prior experience in romantic matters. "What was that? I couldn't hear you." Quaid said. _Oh, forget it!_ She thought. _I'll just say it!_ "Quaid… I… I…"

"You… need to use the restroom?" he brought out an admittedly foolish assumption, which made her both embarrassed and frustrated.

"N-NO!" she snapped. "Where did you get that idea?!"

Quaid chuckled a little. "I'm kidding. You seemed very fidgety, so I thought you had something held in." There was something about his assumptions that stuck a nerve in Diana every time he uttered them, but this time this particular one was half-right. The context couldn't be way off, but in a different sense, he was quite accurate. "N-No… It's not that."

"Then what is it?"

"I… I…" Diana made a few steps forward. " I… L-L-Wah?!" Just as she was about to say her confession, she slipped on a small patch of ice that was well hidden in the snow. The resulting slip made her topple onto Quaid, the two fell onto the snow. Diana slowly opens her eyes and quickly shot opened as she saw what position she was in, She was on top of Quaid, who laid face up on the snow, their faces dangerously close to the point where she could have kissed him. As if the situation could not get any worse, Ivris happened to show up now and was watching all of this happen with an amused smile. Diana quickly got off of him, still in a state of embarrassment, but slips on the same ice patch and landed on her bottom. _This didn't go according to plan! I should've thought ahead! What's he going to say now?_ More thoughts born from her anxiety began to cloud her mind, fearing what might happen next.

Quaid in the meantime was left confused from the events but gets up as if nothing happened. He then walked over to a nervous looking Diana and extended his arm, offering to help her get up. "Need a hand?" He asked. Reluctantly, Diana obliges and is helped up by Quaid. "If you needed to say something to me, you should try to calm yourself down first. I don't want to be the one doing my own laundry." he grinned. Quaid looked at the sky, which was starting to get darker. "It's getting late. The others might have returned already, so let's go back before Fadahl scolds all of us."

Diana still felt anxious, and mad at herself for failing. _If only I didn't slip, maybe it would have gone better!_ She knew she had one chance, and she messed it up, who knows when she might have a chance to confess to him again? Certainly not on the battlefield. The whole ordeal left her feeling very unsure of herself, more so than usual. "You know… I wouldn't mind if we held hands again." Quaid spoke suddenly.

"H-Huh? What for?"

"You looked pretty tense back there, I'm just trying to see if I could help," he replied. "But if you don't want to, then I'll just…" Diana did not hesitate to wrap herself around Quaid's right arm, clinging it tightly. "Well! I didn't think you were that chilly! Haha!" He chuckled. Diana said nothing, motioning him to head home. The duo walked together out of the park and back onto the city streets as they moved into the direction towards the seminary. Ivris once again trailed behind the two, her mischievous smile had not left. Well, she may not have been able to confess or kiss. But I suppose this is close enough. She thought, satisfied with the results.

Quaid kept looking forward, staring at the slowly darkening sky with the same smile he always had. Unbeknownst to the two ladies, he himself was just as content with Diana being so close as Diana was. _I know what she was trying to do._ He thought. _I'll give her the time to gather her courage. I'll be waiting for what she has to say, I can wait._

* * *

 **Well, here it was, a sort of filler to explain where Vargas and Lava were in the events of chapter 4 and a random thought I had in my head.**

 **Romance isn't my expertise, I certainly don't have any experience in it. So if the quality of this chapter isn't up to your expectations, then I suppose that inexperience showed. What did you all think about it? Let me know in reviews or PMs. The next two chapters will be pretty lengthy, so expect that.**


	10. Chapter 10

Things were getting lively at the Graham Residence. The units were going around, getting the house ready for the party that was to start within a matter of hours. In addition to the Christmas decorations, streamers and balloons were strewn around the house to add on to the setting. Lara was busy with the decorations outside as Sirius assists her, making sure the lights were perfectly in place. Tora swept the interior, cleaning up the place with Rouche moving some of the furniture around to create as much space in the house as possible. As for the summoners, James was busy in the kitchen, cooking various cakes and other desserts. It wasn't questing, but at least he was doing something. Valerie was overseeing the preparations, making sure that everything was going well. The interior was clean, the decorations were hung, and all fragile items that would normally be on the first floor and in the hallway were safely transferred to her and James' room. There were no itineraries to follow, just a simple social gathering to help commemorate the holidays. It was already evening, the sun had set more quickly, as expected for the winter season. It was 4:30, guests were bound to arrive soon. WIth the last of their tasks finished, the units gathered into the living room. "What do you want us to do now?" Asked Lara.

"Nothing," Valerie replied. "Just go on and enjoy yourselves. You all deserve it!"

Tora sighed with relief. "Yay… finally."

"You heard her," Sirius spoke up. "All that needs to be done is to wait."

"Right. Are the desserts ready?" Rouche asked James.

"I've got a plenty. I'll bring them over to the table." James called out. He walked out of the kitchen, wearing an apron and bringing a plate with some cupcakes on each hand, placing them on a table along with some bottles of soft drinks, pitchers of iced water and bowls of various candies. Paper plates, plastic cups, and cutlery were stacked onto a separate, smaller table.

"Do you need help with that?" Tora asked, seeing that her summoner's hands were full.

"It's fine," He politely declined. "I'll be fine. Besides, someone has to look out in case someone comes." As if on cue, a knock came on the door. "Someone answers it," James said before going back to the kitchen and bake a new batch of desserts.

Valerie walked over to the door to see who was there. "Yes?"

Standing at the door was a young girl with long brown hair wearing an oversized black sweater. Beside her was an older woman with blonde hair wearing a decorated green dress outfitted with a light breastplate, her appearance seemed almost fairy-like in nature. "U-Umm… Is this the right address?" The girl quietly stuttered. Valerie recognized the older woman as Libera, but took a few moments to scrutinize the girl, and looked at the invitation she held in her hand. "You must be Yume, correct?" She asked her.

"Y-Yes…" the girl replied.

"You came a little early, but we're welcome to have you." Valerie smiled. "Come inside, and help yourself to the desserts."

"Deserts?" Yume's eyes widened at the mention of it and did not hesitate to go inside. Just as Valerie promised, there were desserts on the table, from small cakes to cupcakes and muffins of different variety. A number of deserts on the table made her mouth water, and she quickly took a paper plate and began filling it with as many sweets as possible. She then moved towards a corner and began stuffing her face, with Libera standing beside her. "So when do the others arrive?" She asked.

"In a few moments," Valerie replied. "Though it may get crowded-" She was cut off as a knocking came at the door again. "I guess people are coming." She answered the door again, this time a short youth with a vaguely catlike appearance stood by the door. At his side were his units, a blonde, short-haired sorceress and an ominous hooded horseman who was fastening his horse's reins on a nearby. "Fray! Glad you could come!" Valerie greeted the youth.

"Glad to see you, Miss Windell. I suppose you are busy with the preparations?"

"No, we just finished them and are waiting for everyone else to arrive, so come inside! And just 'Valerie' is fine."

"Much obliged, Miss Windell." He walked inside along with his units.

 _He never changes…_ Valerie thought, still maintaining her optimism both inside and out.

"Well, I must say that you have gotten yourselves organized," Fray said as he examined the room.

"Yes, we've been cleaning up for a while. We weren't sure how many guests would come, so we tried to create as much space as we could."

Fray sniffed the air and turned over to the dessert-filled table. "Ah, I see you're serving the refreshments straight from the oven, I see?"

"Yeah. As much as we wanted to go buy them, we thought this would be a bit better. Probably the only store bought items we had were some of the drinks and the candies."

He tilted his head to the side, noting that he had not seen her partner yet, and the smell coming from the kitchen was rather obvious where he was. "Well, aren't you a bit too harsh to let James bake all by himself?"

"It was either that or watch him go on a quest marathon." She sighed. "I needed him to do something more productive over the holidays, plus I'm not an expert on cooking."

"Well, In any case, I better go help him out then. He' will need the assistance."

"Are you sure?"

"Don't worry about me, worry about the other guests that might come." He said as he made his way toward the kitchen. Valerie did as she was instructed and continued her door-keeping role.

In the meantime, Fray's units went over to the living room and got themselves acquainted. Limera's eyes widened as she spotted Rouche. "So this is where you've been, brother." She called out.

"Limera! It's been ages." He smiled back. The siblings went up to each other and pulled each other into an embrace.

"How funny I'd find you just before Christmas." She grinned.

"I suppose this counts as a Christmas miracle" Rouche chuckled. "So, how have things been for you?"

"Quite a bit, let me tell you all about what happened…" Limera began to tell her experiences with her summoner, from the quests they had embarked to more casual topics. Rouche sat along with her and listened attentively to every word of it. In no time at all, they found themselves going into a deep conversation, catching up on the times they were separated. In the meantime, Galtier leaned against a wall, observing everything with a blank expression. His appearance unnerved both Tora and Yume. "H-He's scary…" Tora quietly whimpered. Yume simply silently nodded, holding Libera's had as the latter stared at the knight. _Who is this one?_ She thought to herself. _I haven't seen this unit before in my years as a summoner. Maybe he's a new one?_ Galtier shifted his gaze over to the three girls with a cold gaze, making them all shudder in fear. He stared at the trio for a few seconds before turning away. "Do not mind me," He spoke in a hollow tone. "I am simply here at the behest of my summoner." The three sighed with relief, he was not going to do anything bad, yet.

In the kitchen, Fray checked up on James, who was hard at work mixing ingredients for different dishes with some difficulty. "Look at you, hard at work." he stood by the opening, leaning on the wall with a straight face. By the tone of his voice, James hinted a sense of teasing but shrugged it off. "What do you want, Fray?" He asked while rolling a lump of dough for gingerbread cookies. "I came to help. It would be a shame to have someone work too much by himself, especially with that kind of work load."

"I appreciate the concern, but I'll be fine." He replied. "You can go and enjoy yourself."

"Nonsense." Fray went over and picked up an apron. "Did you forget that I help out at a bakery? Just tell me what we're making and I'll help."

James was once again put into a situation he knows he could not argue back, so he simply let things be. "I've spaced out each batter and organized them. I left a little sticky note that will tell which is which. Use the cookbook over there if you need any further reference." He pointed towards a thick book sitting next to the refrigerator. "I will not ask how you have so many utensils, but I suppose work comes first. Also, don't you think that it's kind of too much that you are just serving desserts?"

"Yeah. I told Valerie this, but she insisted. She thinks that this is a good way to have everyone energetic."

"Energy through Sugar, huh. Quite simple thinking, coming from her." With that, the pair were now hard at work, preparing more desserts before any other guests arrived.

The next to arrive was Sakura Akemi, who stared at Valerie with a cold yet blank expression. "Sakura, right?" Valerie asked, to which the other quietly nodded. "Come inside, I'm sure you've walked quite the distance."

"Thank you," Sakura replied before walking inside, with Aaron and Rize following suit. The trio remained quiet for the most part, much to Tora and Yume's dismay. Like Fray, Sakura also took notice of how cleanliness of the area as she took a slice of cake. _Not bad, I must say..._

Shortly after that, more guests came in the form of a rather large group consisting of five women and only one male. "Lunar! Shimmer! Good to see you!" Valerie greeted the two young women at the very front of the group.

"Hiya!" Lunar replied, carrying two boxes of pumpkin pies. "I hope you don't mind us bringing in a few desserts of our own."

"Thank you!" She took the boxes off of Lunar's hands.

"Thank Semira, she was the one who suggested the idea." She points over to Semira, who nodded. "Oh no, there is no need to thank me."

"Come inside, please, help yourself!" Valerie went over to the table, opening the boxes and places the two pies on the table. She calls to the duo in the kitchen. "You two don't need to make as much, Lunar brought in some desserts herself!"

"You heard the lady, I suppose this is the last batch to make." Said Fray.

"Fine. time to get to mixing again" James said before turning his attention to mixing batter again.

Semira came in smiling, but the moment she laid eyes on Galtier, the mood shifted to that of a more serious one. "My Lady! It's him!" Jack spoke up.

"Yes, I know…" Semira replied as her gaze shifted over to the knight leaning against the wall.

The moment he spotted her, rage began to stir inside. Rage against the one who killed him in his quest for glory. Fortunately, he kept it in as he began to spoke, "It has been awhile since we've last met, Witch."

"You can call me whatever you want," Semira responded with a smirk. "I did not think it was possible for you to come back through summoning, let alone be resurrected at all."

"Do you wish for me to cut you down like I did that night?" Galtier manifested his scythe, much to the distress of Tora and Yume.

"I knew you would say that I have a new friend to introduce you. A shadow began to form behind her, a soul slowly rose from the ground, donning an armored Jesters hat. The feeling that Galtier emanated from the spirit, it was his own. _So this is what I became… a mere shell at the mercy of a child?_ The sight was appalling to him, it made him disgusted, angrier. He felt his rage take control of him as he raised his scythe, pointing it at Semira, "I will enjoy tearing you apart. That connection you have with that spirit, I will tear it into pieces, until not a sliver of it remains!"

"You can try, but I'll just defeat you again and again. Shall we teach this knight another lesson, Jack?"

"It will be my pleasure!"

The scene was getting tenser by the second, Lunar stepped in the way of Semira, attempting to run damage control. "That's enough Semira, This is someone else's house. You guys can't fight here, you're killing the mood."

Semira remained as calm as before. "Ah, that's right. Forgive me, I forget myself sometimes." the aura around her slowly dissipated and the spirit sank back to the ground, disappearing. Galtier, on the other hand, seemed to show no signs of relenting as he kept the scythe in its position. "Are you backing out right now? A lowly tactic, fitting for a coward such as yourself."

"Need I remind you of who defeated who?" Semira sneered. Which only made the knight angrier. He stepped forward to try to make the first move but was quickly halted as a voice called out from the kitchen. "Galtier! Stop your nonsense this instant," shouted Fray from the kitchen. "This is a party, not the arena."

Galtier growled, backing up and dematerialised his scythe.

"Who's the coward now?" Semira taunted the knight once more but was met with a quick slap by Lunar, who promptly scolded her afterward. "How about you go to the kitchen," Lunar suggested, noticing the smell emanating from it. "Whoever is in there might need some help."

"Alright then, let's go, Jack." Semira and Jack then began to float towards the kitchen, looking to see if they could be of any assistance. She walked in to see Fray and James hard at work. "My my," She chuckled. "This is quite the peculiar sight."

"Miss Semira! It's nice to see you." Fray greeted her. "Is it possible you could assist us? With more hands, we could finish this task more quickly."

"I'd be delighted to, what about you?" She turned over to James, who averted his gaze from her.

"I would appreciate your assistance," James said.

Semira then walked off to the side and grabs an apron, joining the pair in completing the last batch of desserts.

With the crisis quickly resolved, the atmosphere returned to its quiet state. Shimmer joined the now dubbed "Quiet corner" along with Yume and Tora, seeing that most of the individuals here seemed like ones that shouldn't be messed with. The only ones making any sort of noise were Rouche and Limera, who were still deep in conversation. "Wow, it's quiet in here," Lunar remarked, looking rather bored.

"Even with this number, nothing has happened yet," Lara spoke up. "I think I have an idea that might help lighten the mood." She looked towards Sirius and motioned her to get something, to which he obliged.

"Where are you going?" Rize inquired.

"It is as she said, something to lighten the mood," Sirius replied. "I will be right back." he then ran off to a different corner of the house."

"Whatever it is, I have this strange feeling that makes me uncomfortable…" Medina said.

"What makes you say that?" asked Aaron.

"I don't know, but I still feel very uncomfortable about it."

Sakura paid no attention to it as she browsed through a selection of books in a bookshelf in the hallway while Lunar snickered in a corner, she most likely had a clue what might happen next.

The next arrival came in the form of another group with that consisted of a majority of females, on the left, two were floating, one was a bespectacled woman holding a few tomes and the other a little girl dressed in a black fur coat. On the right was a white-haired woman clad in heavy armor with another girl, who appeared to be slightly older than the other floating girl with the same hair color as her and the female knight but tied in twin tails. "I-Is this where the party is being held?" She stuttered, hiding behind her unit holding the invitation.

"You came to the right place," Valerie replied in a happy and relaxed tone, taking note of the girl's anxiety. "You are Hikari, right? And I believe the one floating beside you is Clockwork?"

"Yep," Clockwork replied. "Come on Hika," She whined. "I want to see the sweets…"

"O-Okay…" The next group entered the house, adding on to the current population of the crowd. As expected, Clockwork quickly floated towards the table and, much like Yume, tried to see how much desserts she could try to fit on her plate. The other three followed suit in a more orderly and calm fashion and did the same, albeit having a significantly lower portion than Clockworks. From there they branched off into separate groups, with Elimo going off to the hallway near Sakura's location, and Clockwork, Hikari, and Sefia also joined the quiet corner, with Hikari looking visibly frightened. It didn't seem to help her that Tora of all people was beside her, the disciple's appearance made her all the more unsettled. Seeing this, Tora turned around to try to greet Hikari, but the latter quickly inched away from her. She felt a little disheartened, wondering if she had done something wrong again. "Please forgive her," Sefia said. "She is not used to interacting with others other than Clockwork and us units."

"O-Oh! I see…" This made her feel slightly relieved. Tora then looked to Hikari. "I feel just as nervous right now."

"Y-You do?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm not fond of crowds, there is something about them that just makes me afraid, especially if they are the scary-looking kind."

"I-I see…" The little ice-breaker slowly became a quiet conversation, much to the delight of both girls. Sefia watched this with a smile, seeing her summoner in a light mood.

Little by little, parts of the house were getting a bit livelier, the atmosphere progressively becoming less quiet. With the exception of Galtier, the units began discussing amongst themselves, talking about various topics ranging from their experiences with their summoners to the feeling of being a unit. The atmosphere only got more energetic with the arrival of the next batch of guests, the door was kicked down as the next group entered the house.

"HO HO HO!" shouted Ace, a large bag in hand while the others trailed in. The sudden entrance caused those in the quiet corner to tense up for being caught by surprise.

"Forgive him," Said a bespectacled blonde haired woman who had a look of disappointment on her face. "He was really excited for the party."

"Don't worry, Evelyne," Valerie replied. "We're glad that there are more guests arriving.

"Whoo! Party!" Vargas shouted, with Lava having a similarly disappointed expression as she followed him.

The last to enter was Ninmah and Enki, with the former inspecting the house with the same level of curiosity she had displayed countless times before. "What a well-decorated house, don't you think, Enki?" She spoke.

"I'll say," replied Enki. "By the looks of things, we both may have a good time here Ninmah."

Lunar's eyes widened with excitement upon seeing the units. Vargas and Lava, one pairing that she had documented over the years, was there in front of her. The other two were units she could not recognize, but her instincts told her that the two were definitely in a relationship. Fortunately, she had brought a notebook with her to help document the actions of couples that sparked her interest, whether they were unit or fellow summoners. _This was a good idea_ She thought, her smile grew all the wider and child-like in fashion.

It was well past five o'clock at this point and with the arrival of Ace and his group, the atmosphere grew even brighter. The knock on the door heralded the last group to arrive, to which Valerie answered the door once more. "Hello!" She happily greeted the group but was met with an uncomfortable silence. "Y-You're Nevryn, R-right?" He did not respond but simply walked in silently, with Sara, whom to Nevryn's relief did not bring a bottle of beer with her, and his units following soon after. He walked off to a corner away from everyone else leaving Sara and his units to their own devices. Sara herself looked at Valerie with a rather suspicious smile, which made her uncomfortable. "Umm… can I help you?" She asked.

"Sure you can," Sara replied. "Just let me examine you a little closer…" She leaned in forward to grab Valerie. With the woman's speed and the sudden action, Valerie did not have the time to react as she suddenly found herself wrapped in her deceptively gentle embrace. "You have such beautiful skin…" She cooed as she stroked her arms on Valerie's figure, wanting to touch what exposed parts of her body she had, which made Valerie fluster. Seeing what was going on, Lara and Rouche stepped in to interfere and quickly pried Sara off their summoner."Aww,, " She whined. "And she looked quite cute… Oh well." She turned her gaze to the others in the room, that same expression she had still plastered on her face. While some of the female units seemed to show slight discomfort while most of the female summoner's that were present in the room, namely the shy and quiet ones, shuddered with fright, which made Sara all the giddier.

Yuura glanced over to the side to see his former comrades showing the same amount of discomfort as everyone else, which also made him smile. " I didn't expect to see you three in here." He laughed, which prompted Medina to tense up. "Not you again…" She groaned.

"Missed me? I bet you did." He smirked.

 _Here we go again…_ Dion and Medina simultaneously thought, both knowing where this was going.

Holia in the meantime examined the room when her eyes fell on Rize. "My my, is that my little God of destruction?"

Rize remained silent, maintaining a cool exterior as she looked at her creator in the eye. "This many reunions in such a short time? I find this almost too coincidental," she remarked.

Holia seemed to ignore the explanation as she went up to Rize and fully inspected her appearance. "This is an interesting development. I did not encounter this kind of progress before…"

"That is because I have achieved a new form of evolution. One I doubt you have come across."

"Yes, the so-called "Omni evolution" the humans discovered. Such interesting results… So many observations waiting to record…" Holia's smile grew wider as her researcher's instincts slowly took over, her desire to analyze and examine everyone in the room became more evident, almost similar with Sara's perverse urges. Nevryn looked at all of this with a mix of indifference and disappointment. He walked into a minefield, knowing fully well this was going to happen. _At least there WILL be something for me to do…_ he thought, resolving to his caretaker role.

Whether it was for better or worse, all the guests had finally arrived, the party has just begun.

* * *

 **Finally, I bring the cast together. Sorry if this chapter was one big exposition, but I decided to split the party into two chapters, so expect the second half of it to be released tomorrow and expect more to happen there.**


	11. Chapter 11

With the string of celebrations that occurred throughout the summoners hall and Elgaia as a whole after the fall of Karna Masta, adding on to the list of achievements alongside with the subjugation of Lucius and the Fallen Gods in Grand Gaia and preventing of a demon attack from Ishgria. In addition to the aforementioned achievements, the hall also celebrated the anniversary of its founding last month, so one would think that having yet another party after all that would be redundant, right? This certainly was not the case for those who attended the Christmas party at the Graham residence.

With the house now filled to the brim with guests, the party grew livelier despite the equal number between the outgoing and energetic lot and the quiet and/or antisocial group. The trio who worked hard in the kitchen made their return and brought over the last batch of desserts to the table, as of this point, they finally joined the party. Tora and Yume continued to have a quiet conversation with Shimmer shortly joining in after a while. Lunar did her best to contain her excitement as she documented what interaction the couples had, this excitement intensified with the arrival of Yuura, whom some people had paired up with Medina. Ace in the meantime began to hand out small gift boxes out to both summoners and units alike, all with the usual smile he had on his face. "Aren't you the philanthropist?" Fray asked as he received a gift box.

"I couldn't resist when I got the invitation," Ace replied. "Considering the occasion, I didn't want to go in empty handed."

"That's very thoughtful of you, Ace. Thank you." Valerie smiled.

"No need to thank me, I always wanted to try playing the Santa role" he beamed a goofy grin.

Over at the "quiet corner, " Sefia cringed as she looked over to see Clockwork and Yume, gorging themselves with desserts in a way as if the two were having a competition. Judging by their speed, they seemed to be dead even, both eating their sweets at a speed that could not be considered human. At this rate, the two would most likely go through the whole dessert table before the party was half over.

Elimo, Sakura, and Evelyne found themselves at a different corner of the house, away from the ruckus as they perused the bookshelves to see if there was anything of interest. Most of the books had content that revolved around building life skills like cleaning and organizing, which explained how the house seemed so organized and the food having good quality. Sakura poked through the gaps and took out a thick book that appeared to be a literary adaptation of a play. "It is not exactly my cup of tea, but I suppose this might be an interesting read," she muttered before taking her seat. Elimo had a few tomes beside her as she began to read one of them to see how she could pass the time, Evelyne eyed them curiously and walked up to the sage. "Those tomes, they contain the God's knowledge, do they not?"

"They do," Elimo replied. "Not everyone could read them, I doubt anyone would comprehend what they contain." She had the time, she was curiously looking at the peculiar looking tome Evelyne had in her hand. "That book, I have never seen anything like it."

Evelyne held the book, it's design was no different than the types found in the imperial library, but it had a hint of mystery to it that piqued Elimo's interest. She looked over to the book. "I suppose the difficulty of understanding this would be just as difficult to understand as your tomes, if not more."

Elimo stroked her chin. "Interesting, do you know what it holds?"

"I don't know, I have yet to read it."

"Perhaps I could take a look at it?"

"You are welcome to try, that is if you could lend me one of your tomes for a while."

"Fair enough." The two ladies exchanged books and sat on chairs on the opposite chairs, becoming immersed with the others literature.

Back in the living room, Sara still went around letting her urges run wild. Poor Lara became her next victim, caught by the unexpectedly fast woman as she grabbed her from behind and began to fondle her just as she did with Valerie. Both Rouche and Nevryn stepped in to try to separate the two, which proved to be more of a chore than the former previously thought as she had a tight grip on her. The sight was uncomfortable, amusing, and somewhat hilarious all at once. After successfully being pried off of Lara, she went off for her next prey. Rouche sighed as he leaned against a wall. "Does this happen often?" He asked Nevryn.

"More than you think." The black haired man sighed.

Aaron was still fixated on the corner where Sirius was last spotted, still wondering what exactly he was getting. After a while, he reappeared, wheeling in a peculiar looking machine. Sitting on top of it was a few microphones attached to it. "Ooh! A karaoke machine!" Lunar shouted, knowing where this might go. With a sigh, James helped turn on the television set up the machine. It activated with a loud screech from the feedback audio, causing some in the room to flinch. James tossed the book containing a list of songs on the table, most of which were labeled to point out where the carols and other random songs related to the holidays were. Some of the energetic folk decided to walk up to the machine, each taking a microphone and got ready to sing. Her curiosity getting the better of her again, Ninmah pulled Enki into the randomness as well.

The sound of music began to fill throughout the house as the karaoke marathon began, those who didn't want to participate merely watched in amusement to see who would fail terribly while others sang along. Needless to say, everyone roared with laughter at Enki for his rather hilariousattempt, , who did not seem to care about it. Shimmer also built enough confidence to step out of her corner and joined in as well, doing not as poorly. Ace, along with Vargas, also sang a few numbers, much to Lava's amusement. The three girls in the library didn't seem to mind the ruckus coming from the living room, at least it helped brighten the atmosphere a little bit. Despite the ever increasing positivity in the air, there were still a few individuals that still remained quiet, namely Nevryn and Dion.

Dion leaned against a wall as he watched everything that unfolded, occasionally glancing over to Ruby. She seemed to somewhat enjoy the party, but he could easily detect a sense of discontent coming from her. He never really cared about her well being until now. _Just how exactly am I going to get himself out of this one? What could get that idiot to feel better…?_

During his contemplation, Yuura slapped his back, reaffirming his presence to his compatriot. "This is a first! You two aren't arguing! You must be feeling pretty happy right now right?" Dion remained silent, he didn't want to cater to Yuura's jests. "Aww, what's the matter? You seem more quiet than usual." Dion looked to the ground, his distress was becoming more evident. "You screwed up on something, didn't you?" Dion did not want to admit it, but he was accurate. His silence, however, gave away his situation. "Alright, what did you do? We're all adults here. Besides, no one's going to notice." He pointed out that everyone in the room was distracted from the karaoke session, which gave them some breathing room. With a sigh, he explained his situation with Yuura, about the mishaps that occurred a few days prior to the party and how he believes that Ruby's outburst came from delusion. After he finished, Yuura stood beside him and leaned back on the wall. "I'm not surprised you're not one for celebrating, but couldn't you at least try to show that you care?"

"That's exactly what my summoner told me…"

"Well, that makes you as stubborn as Ruby is, don't you think?"

"Tch." Once again, another accurate guess. "Then what do you think I should do about it? It's not like I could just tell her some sob story to make her understand."

Yuura laughed, not only at the fact that Dion of all people was requesting his assistance but by how inexperienced he was in situations like these that he couldn't think of the most obvious solution beforehand. "Buy her something, you airhead." He replied. "She'll probably understand about it."

"You do realize it's Christmas Eve, right?" Dion countered. "Shops close earlier than usual."

"They do," Yuura restated Dion's claim. "But there are still a few shops that are open. With your speed, I bet you'll make it."

Dion thought for a moment. _If this is the only way to do it, then maybe I'll give it a shot._ "Fine, I'll take your word for it. If anyone asks, tell them I just needed to rest my ears."

"Consider it done. Godspeed, Cyclonic Blade." Yuura said,

Dion nodded, quietly using the back door to make his escape. Ruby, who was eating a few cupcakes, took noticed of Dion leaving, but even with her enhanced hearing she could not pick up the conversation to the noise, so she shrugged it off as Dion trying to escape. Yuura remained where he was, trying to cover his involvement by being as casual as he could. "Well, this is certainly a surprise," Medina said, mimicking Yuura's snarky tone as she caught wind of their plan. Yuura maintained his composure as he leaned back a little. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I knew you had a heart in that shell of yours," Medina said, also maintaining her own mood, wanting to see if she could get a reaction out of him. Contrary to what she hoped for, Yuura's attitude remained the same. "Aww, you're trying to act like me. I'm flattered." He teased smiled, which served to make Medina more agitated. "You never change do you?"

"Hey, I'm just saying you did a very good job in doing so, and I'm just trying to be a mood maker since Ruby isn't acting like one."

"Speaking about Ruby. What do you think we should do?"

"Simple!" Without a warning, Yuura quickly pulls Medina with him as he approaches the karaoke machine. "Hey! Pass me the microphones! We're taking center stage!"

"Wh-Wait! 'WE'?!" Medina stuttered.

"Yeah! Time to put on a show!" He handed one over to Medina before taking one for himself and performed a duet with her as they sang a couple of songs, much to Medina's chagrin.

The sudden display caused Lunar to jot down more notes, and others to laugh. Among those who laughed included Ruby, who found the situation too hilarious; even her fox companion rolled around the floor as it shared its master's feelings toward the sight. Yuura smiled, knowing things were going according to plan. "Oi! Next song over here!" Yuura shouted as Lunar tossed him the songbook, he planned to continue this farce, Medina could only groan as she found herself stuck in another idiotic moment. "Let me join!" Ruby shouted, waving her hand from her corner. She, along with her fox companion, abruptly walking up to the makeshift stage.

Shortly after a few numbers are done by the trio, the topic quickly went into story time, with Ace talking about his shopping misadventures with Evelyne and his units. "So yeah, we bought a bunch of stuff before an explosion got in the way."

"W-Wait…" Hikari spoke up. "D-Do you mean that h-heist last week?"

"That same one. Enki here was the one who saved the bystanders." He pats Enki on the shoulder, who responded by looking away in embarrassment.

"And I actually thought you were the one who broke the treasury down," Evelyne called out, having returned from the small library after taking the time reading one of Elimo's tomes.

"And I told you that it was a pack of Bodzells that did it." countered Enki.

"At least no one got hurt from all that." Ninmah chimed in. "What about you all, has anything happened?"

"We simply went out to get a tree recently. "Sefia replied. "Needless to say it was quite the task."

"Never doing that again..." Clockwork muttered in an almost inaudible tone.

"I went out for a walk!" Yume chimed in.

"A walk? That sounded pleasant." Sakura walked from the same room were Evelyne was last, with Elimo following shortly after.

"It was," Libera spoke. "It seemed like a waste to stay indoors, so we both decided a stroll might do us some good."

"We also helped a little girl find her mom!" said Yume, almost immediately after her unit finished.

"Really?" Sakura stroked her chin. "I did just about the same thing, though I had to help out a boy from a few robbers."

"Which surprises me as you were not the one to go near children," Rize spoke up in a snarky tone, which prompted a harsh glare from her summoner.

"Speaking of children, you all should hear what Galtier did while we volunteered at an orphanage." Limera chimed in. The claim made Galtier tense up and Semira's grin grow wider.

"Ooh?" Semira stroked her chin. "What did he do?" Jack appeared behind her and made a sort of jumping motion to express his interest. "Tell us!"

"Oh? Do tell, dear sister," asked Rouche.

"You wouldn't dare!" Galtier stepped forward to try to stop her from divulging the events at the orphanage but was restrained by Rouche and Fray. Limera then began to explain a brief story on how Galtier ended up learning lessons from a little girl, and how he suddenly opened up to the children there and played a few games for the majority of their time there. Most of the members present either were impressed or chuckled, while Semira and Jack keeled over in laughter at the hilarity of the idea. "I guess... even people like you... have a heart in there somewhere," Jack said between chuckles.

"I always thought there was a shred of humanity left in you," Semira added. Their comments made the knight more embarrassed, the hostility she felt towards him grew less. _With this newfound information, I just might have the perfect counter the next time we meet…_ she thought.

Underneath his cowl, he had an expression that was a mix of embarrassment and fuming with rage. Limera had the nerve to announce what he did and in front of his nemesis no less. If there was one thing he remembered about her in his past life, it would be Semira's love for tricks. Certainly, the story gave her plenty of ideas how she might torment him, along with the constant gloating of who won back then. For sure he was not going to hear the end of it. Fray patted the knight on the shoulder."Don't worry about it," He reassured him. "Think of this as gospels of your heroic exploits or whatever it is you wish to call it." Galtier sighed, knowing that this may not be the last of these jests.

Between the karaoke marathon in one corner, the storytime banter in another, and Sara, who was now going around harassing some of the girls, Nevryn continued to feel that the party was more of a chore and one big waste of time. With the incessant chatter around him, he felt like he was getting a migraine. He decided to take a seat, trying to see if he could at least rest his feet from standing. He looked around, Rouche and Limera, Rize and Holia, and four of the six oracle knights. There were reunions happening all around him, which made him felt slightly bitter. _How long will it take me to bring you back? This mundane party only holds me back…_ In a sense, he felt rather jealous of all this, seeing everyone with someone they were close to, whether it was a family or friend. He was so caught up in his angst that he did not realize another person was sitting nearby.

"You hate this too, don't you?" James asked, noticing his plight. Nevryn simply ignored him as he continued to see the cacophony that was going on in the center of the living room. "To be honest, I hate it just as much as you do." He continued, knowing fully aware how he was feeling. "I'd rather be on a raid slaying some demon right now."

"You too?" He scoffed, replying to his comment only to cater his whims, whatever they were.

"Regardless, I might as well thank you for coming. It means a lot to Valerie to have so many people over on this occasion. I'm aware how much things like these are not exactly your cup of tea. No pun intended." He set up a small tray with a few teacups stacked on it. He took one and picked up the pot. He then looked at Sara, who was trying to see if she could catch Clockwork, who floated around in a playful manner as she felt rather bored and wanted to see if she could entertain herself. Hikari and Sefia were both trying to restrain Sara, who did not seem to care about it at all. "And I presume she is with you?"

"Yes, is there a problem with that?"

"Not really." He began to pour a cup of tea he recently brewed during all the ruckus. "Though, Valerie told me that she was caught in her... "loving embrace", so to speak."

Nevryn sighed. "I apologize on her behalf, does that suffice?" He was slightly agitated having to clean up her messes, it did not help that some stranger he has never really touched base with before striking up a conversation with him.

"Somewhat," James replied, now adding a few sugar cubes into his teacup. "What's your relation with her?"

The sudden delivery and the personal nature of the question both caught him off guard and somewhat irritated for James' lack of tact. "And how does that concern you?"

James simply shrugged as he took up a small spoon and stirred the cup. "Just a bit curious, that's all."

"Has anyone not told you it's rude to pry into someone's personal life?" he reposted.

"I apologize," He took a quick sip before continuing. "Though, whatever your relationship is, it must be quite close if you are able to see through her faults." He was correct, though still, he was stepping out of his bounds from the way he directed the conversation.

"Yeah, it is." He replied, seeing how long will the conversation last.

"I know it isn't my place to ask this, but is there a reason why you would be with her of all people?" James asked.

"That is nothing for you to be so concerned about," Nevryn answered.

"Well," he continued, pouring himself another cup. "I suppose that by bringing her here was your way of paying back whatever debt you may have owed her?"

"Where in the world did you get that idea?" He thought.

"Just an assumption. The holiday for is not so much as to try to spend time with others but more or less grateful for what I have and see if I can't repay for those blessings."

"What's that all of the sudden?" He looked at James with a dumbfounded look.

"In whatever way she had helped you, have you ever repaid that kindness?"

He was about to respond when that thought hit him. Has he ever tried to pay back for Sara's hospitality? From the time he had spent living in her home, he spent most of the days in his ill-fated attempts in making progress to resurrecting Halcya. Despite her vulgar tendencies, there were times he was able to confide his issues with her, in a way she had done more for him than he originally thought. "Now that I think about it… I have not." He muttered.

It was at this moment that Fray decided to walk into the conversation. "I couldn't help but to notice that someone has a bit of a predicament here?" The added company made Nevryn feel all the more dubious, remained silent so as to not make his situation more evident. Unfortunately for him, Fray had heard enough of his conversation with James to know his relationship with Sara. "I have the perfect idea of what would help." he turned over to James. "Do you mind if I use your phone for a few moments, Mister Graham?"

"I don't mind. The phone is over there." James replied, pointing to a phone that hung on one of the corners of the living room.

"Thank you." He walked over to the phone, picked it up from its receiver and dialed a number.

"I did not ask for any of your assistance," Nevryn said.

"I know, but do you have any other ideas of what to get her?" Fray countered. Nevryn did not respond, he got him there. He began to talk to the recipient on the other end. "Sorry to call you this late, I have a favor to ask. Nothing too big, I assure you."

"…"

"Yes, yes. Thank you."

Nevryn was not entirely sure what he was getting, the thought made him all the more skeptical. "Why are you helping me?" He asked.

Fray kept a straight face, answering in a rather nonchalant tone. "Is the answer not obvious? It's Christmastime. I'm merely doing my part in showing my goodwill."

"Great, this spiel again…" He grumbled.

"Oh yes, I think you should stop your friend before she does something with Hikari." Fray pointed towards Sara, who had now turned her attention to Hikari, who in turn was hiding behind Sefia.

Nevryn sighed. "Here we go again…" He ran towards her and restrained her. "Calm down," he said. "You are going to get yourself thrown out if you keep this up."

"Aww," Sara whined. "You're such a bore…" The way she was acting was childish. Though, he knew fully well that she enjoyed the attention, regardless if she was able to grope someone or is being restrained. _Whatever "gift" that boy is sending over, it better be worth the trouble…_ He thought, before resuming his caretaker-esque role over Sara.

With the commotion going on, no one noticed Dion sneaking his way through the back door to rejoin, with the only exception being his summoner. "And where have you been?" Lunar inquired, standing beside the door that Dion had just entered.

There was a short silence before Dion spoke up "I did as you suggested and tried to make things right."

"Oh?" She looked curious. "What are you going to do?"

Dion once again was hesitant to respond, replying after another few moments of silence. "You just have to wait for tomorrow."

"Oho! Trying to pull a Christmas miracle, I see?" She grinned, which made Dion slightly unnerved. "Well, whatever it is, I know it'll work."

"How would you know?"

"Because looking at your clothes right now, it tells me you were really working hard on it." She replied, noting that Dion's attire was partially covered in snow and was wrinkly from the high speeds he was traveling from Randall and back.

Dion merely sighed as he walked back to rejoin the party, casually blending into the crowd as he made his return. With the newfound information she gained, Lunar once again wrote down in her notebook. _I really should have brought some mistletoe in here, this would have been a good chance for me._ She thought to herself. _Oh well, I'll take what I can get._

The energetic atmosphere that filled the house slowly declined, the mood progressively became more mellow as hours passed. It was well getting close to ten in the evening, and the guests were more calm, talking amongst one another in more light conversation. Even Sara seemed to be just as tame, opting for compliments and minimal stroking instead while still targeting the females in the party. Valerie had a camera mounted on a tripod in one side of the room, adjusting it so that it would not tilt or fall. "Alright." She announced. "I need everyone together in this corner of the room, so I could take a picture." The guests began to cram themselves at one side of the living room. A few of the members, namely Hikari, Shimmer, Fray, Yume, and Tora, stood at the front so that the others would fit. Valerie quickly pressed the button to start the timer, grabbing James by the arm as she got into the shot. "Alright everyone, smile!" Everyone posed for the camera, some didn't smile, others, namely Limera, Ruby, Ace, and Vargas, made funny faces. After a few seconds, the camera flashed, signaling that it had taken the shot.

And with that, the clock struck ten. The party was over. The guests got up to make their leave, saying their goodbyes to one another. Rouch and Limera both hugged each other as Fray was preparing to leave along with Galtier. "Try not to get yourself hurt," said Rouche. "And please don't make a fool of yourself out there."

"You're starting to sound like mother." Limera giggled. "And try not to get lost somewhere, alright?"

Her brother flinched. "I-I won't! Take care!"

Simultaneously, Semira watched Galtier as he saddled on his horse with a mischievous grin. Galtier on the other hand, averted his gaze from her, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of seeing his embarrassed face again. "Maybe the next time we meet, we could have a rematch. That is if our summoners will allow it."

"Should the chance come, I will stand as the victor." He replied, turning his horse towards the direction of the walkway.

"We'll see about that. Until then, Merry Christmas." Semira waved as she began to follow her summoner and her units on their way home.

"Likewise." He still had a feeling of animosity towards Semira, but he could definitely see that she showed little to no signs of hostility towards him after that little storytime. He felt some relief, having that short-lived burden off his shoulders, though now he had to worry about potential tricks from her in the future. At least he had the rematch to look forward to, so that was one benefit from the party.

"Thank you for the party Miss Windell" Fray bowed. "It was quite fun."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." She waved to Fray as she saw him off.

Meanwhile, Holia had compiled information from her "thorough analysis" of Rize's current condition, in addition, she had jotted down observation notes of the mental state of the other party-goers, which satisfied her needs as a researcher. She walked beside Nevryn, who was supporting a now sleepy Sara, or he believes she is sleeping. He turned around to face Valerie. "I appreciate your generosity, I hope we were not too much of a trouble."

"It's no problem." Valerie smiled. "Take care on your way home."

"Your concern isn't needed, but I appreciate the sentiment." His group began to leave as well, with Yuura giving one last sarcastic grin to annoy Medina as the two went in opposite directions.

Sakura brought Aaron and Rize along as she made her exit, politely bowing to the two hosts along the way. Behind her was Hikari, who piggybacked a now sleeping Clockwork as her units followed them back home. Libera walked out shortly after carrying a sleeping Yume in her arms.

Ace and Evelyne were the last to leave, Enki carried Ninmah in a bridal-style carry while Lava had the displeasure of trying to support Vargas while he was a little drowsy. "Oh yeah! James! Think fast!" He called back.

"Hm?" He did not have enough time to react as the second he turned around, he was hit in the face with a small gift box.

Ace scratched his head. "I forgot to give you one, sorry about that."

"I see, Thank you."

"No problem! Just remember not to open it until tomorrow!" He shouted before waving goodbye. His sister sighed at his buffoonery, but at least her experience at the party was not a complete waste; she managed to have some progress in understanding her newfound tome while simultaneously gained more knowledge after taking a quick look at one of Elimo's books.

With all the guests gone, she closed the door. James had a look of dismay as he looked at the mess left behind, some chairs were left all over the place, crumbs and pieces of half finished desserts and snacks were everywhere. On top of that, there were still plenty of desserts left over, even though some of the guests had taken some for themselves as they left. There was much to clean, and much more to organize. Valerie picked up the camera from the tripod and smiled happily at the photo. Everything went smoothly, just as she had hoped. James noticed the smile on her face and could not help but to do the same. "I think it went really well!" said Valerie.

"Yeah, it did. But now it's time to handle the aftermath..." James sighed as he brought out a broom, a mop, and a damp towel. Just as he was about to get started, Valerie placed a hand on his shoulder. "You've done plenty, let us do all the work. How about you rest up? We can take care of things here."

"No, I'll help you guys. I'm afraid someone might mess up cleaning while I'm asleep."

Tora flinched at the remark. "D-Don't look at me!"

"I don't think me means exclusively you," Lara said, patting the disciple's head, her gaze shifted over to Valerie, who did not notice her indirect statement as she picked up a cloth.

"I do not mind performing a bit of labor," said Sirius, who was now holding a broom in his hand, likewise, Rouche walked over to grab a broom. "This shouldn't take long with all of us working together."

James let out a chuckle, something he seldom does. "Fine then, let's get started." The party is finished, the guests have all left, almost all the work was completed. Now, it's time for cleanup.

* * *

 **Writing this was quite the work, trying to provide screentime for all the characters was a challenge. This half also serves as a bit of a recap/bridge to have a few characters problems solved. How did I do? Feel free to let me know.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas/holidays. I come bearing gifts in the form of one last chapter for this little tale of mine. This one's pretty lengthy, hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Christmas morning. The setting around Elgia remained the same, snow capped fields and rooftops in towns and cities. Randall still looked festive, decorations still strewn along the connected shops and multi-colored lights continue to illuminate the area in addition to the rays of the slowly rising sun. The only difference between the current setting and the days prior to it was that the streets were much quieter than before, save for the muffled clamor within a few homes of people celebrating the arrival of Christmas. Most groups had parties, some went into groups and sang carols from door to door, some even took the time to pray. As for the summoners that were present at the party yesterday, they each celebrated in their own way.

…

Yume was still asleep, no doubt still trying to rest off the sugar crash from eating so many sweets last night. Libera in the meantime was looking inside the box that Ace gave her. Inside were a pair of jingle bells that emitted a quiet ring when shaken. She smiled, feeling a sense of comfort from the bells. As if on cue, her summoner made her way downstairs, as if being beckoned by the bell. "Morning Libera…" Yume yawned.

"Merry Christmas!" She replied.

The response prompted the girl's eyes to widen. She completely forgot that it was already Christmas. Her demeanor changed into an energetic rush as if she was going on a sugar high again. She bounced around, squealing "It's Christmas!" repeatedly before opening the box she received from Ace. Like Libera, inside were a pair of jingle bells, tied together with a red bow. She gave it a ring, much to her delight. She looked over to a picture that stood on a shelf nearby, depicting a family photo consisting of her parents and herself. She looked at it with a mix of nostalgia and happiness.

"Do you miss your parents?" Her unit asked.

Yume stared at the photo for a bit before shaking her head. "Nuu. I'm fine. But I'm not sure about her…" Seeing the picture of her father made her felt a little empty, having lost him in a fire a couple of years ago. Her mother never objected to her decision to see the world and become a high-ranking summoner within the ranks of the summoners hall, knowing she was just as optimistic to her dream as her father was to become a great alchemist. Despite this, she felt a little worried, having to leave her all alone back in her home far away from the capital. She thought for a moment before suddenly running upstairs.

"Hmm? Where are you going?" asked Libera.

"I'll be right back!" She shouted from her room. Pen and paper in hand, she quickly began to write a short letter to her mother, telling her of what had happened, how happy she felt being with her units and wishing her a Merry Christmas. She quickly ran down, Dashing past Libera along the way as she ran out the door still wearing her pajamas. "H-Hey! You forgot-" Libera was about to let her know that she forgot her jacket, but she quickly returned inside after having put the letter in the mailbox. She was shivering a little, the weather was especially cold today. Libera simply smiled as she grabbed a nearby blanket, placing it over her summoners shoulders before walking over to the kitchen to grab a few cups of hot cocoa. "Here." She handed over a cup to Yume.

"Thanks!" They both quietly sipped their cocoa in front of the fireplace, taking in the currently quiet atmosphere around their house. "I'm sure your parents would be proud of you." Said Libera.

Yume nodded. "Yesh! I'm going to become the best summoner! So that I could protect everyone!" Her eyes sparkled, showing her dedication towards her goal. Her ideal was rather simplistic, but to her, it was something worth traveling for. Libera placed a hand on Yume's shoulder and winked. "Then let's do our best. Once Christmas is over, it's back to training for us!"

"Yeah! But for now, I'm tired…" Yume yawned loudly.

"But you just slept."

"I know… but I feel so sleepy today…" Her eyes were heavy as she yawned again, no doubt she was still feeling a little drowsy.

"Hehe. Okay. Want me to get you to bed?" Libera asked. She was met with only the soft snores coming from her summoner. She maintained her smile as she gingerly picked the girl up and walked over to the nearby sofa, resting her gently as she allowed her to continue to sleep. For them, this Christmas felt rather quiet, taking advantage of the calm atmosphere it provided. But the feeling of determination surely lingered amongst the duo, looking forward to the coming of the new year.

* * *

…

* * *

Sakura had long since given up on sleep, having woken up a few times in the middle of the night. By this point, she did not feel remotely tired as she sat on a chair, looking over the pages of her sketchbook on her desk. She stared at the sketch she made about a week ago, from the stroll she had gone with her units in the streets of Randall. She did not feel like coloring it, that was too much of a chore, opting to look over her sketch instead. She revised a few details, the few shops and people she drew seemed disproportionate and a few stray lines remained. After thinking for a few seconds, she decided to include the latest addition to her sketch. Using her memory of that day, she did her best to reconstruct the appearance of the boy she had encountered. The results were more than satisfactory, the appearance was identical to him, from the few strands of hair that were visible underneath his hood to the few tears of his jacket.

She looked at the recreation of the boy with a wistful expression. _I suppose not all children are ignorant._ She thought, looking back on his family's economic predicament. _I wonder how his family is doing…?_ Sakura looked outside, looking over to the direction of where the slums resided. Now that she thought about it, she went out of her comfort zone saving that child. She felt a little proud of her deed, knowing that for now, the family might be able to celebrate the holidays in happiness with her charitable donation. She still felt a little skeptical, wondering if that zel would be put to good use. For all she knew, they could have squandered it off for something trivial. She was in the middle of contemplation when a knock came at the door.

"Who is it this time?" She sighed. She walked downstairs, passing by her units, who were sleeping on the couches in the living room. "Yes?" She opened the door to be greeted by a familiar sight. "Oh, it's you…"

"Morning, Miss!" It was the boy she saved from before, looking up at her with a smile as he held a small, hastily wrapped gift box.

"What did you come here for?" she asked. "Actually, how did you find this place?"

"I asked a few people, they said someone named 'Sakura' lived here. So now I'm here! Also..." The boy then held out the gift to her, his grin stretched wider as he did so. "I came to give you this!"

Sakura took the gift gently and eyed it curiously. "You didn't need to give me anything."

"I just wanted to repay what you did last week. Mum and Pop were very grateful! In fact, Pop had just recently got a job after months of searching! It may not pay as much, but it's a start."

"I see." She nodded, listening to every detail.

"He said it was because of your help that he found the reason to try harder!" He smiled, continuing to thank her for her deed.

Sakura felt a little surprised, she tried to keep a straight face, but her eyes widened a little in instinct."I did not think I made that much of a difference…"

The boy giggled a little, before turning around. "I better go, I don't want to make my parents worry again."

"Are you sure you're fine on your own?"

"I'll be fine this time. Don't worry about me, I'll try to stay away from the alleyway so that I don't get caught again."

Almost instinctively, she found herself asking herself the following question, "I forget, what's your name, boy?"

"My name's Jerald. It was nice to meet you Sakura. Merry Christmas!" He waved the summoner goodbye as he began to run back towards his home, Sakura did likewise as she saw him off. She closed the door, still staring at the gift the boy gave her. She opened it up, inside the gift was a small ornament in the shape of an angel. _How quaint…_ The thought, staring at it to the point where she didn't notice Rize was already awake.

"How thoughtful of him," said Rize, who was looking at Sakura with a mischievous grin.

Not wanting to give Rize another chance to gloat, she kept her composure. "Yes, he was."

Rize chuckled a little. "I'm still a little surprised. It's not like you to have a soft spot for children. Is there something about that boy that made you think otherwise?"

"Maybe," she replied, adding the new ornament on the tree beside the bells that she received from Ace's gift box. She glanced over to a photo that hung up on the wall, a family picture that dated back to many years ago, prior to the incident that took them away. She felt grateful that days like these give her a respite from her nonstop quest to exact revenge, though it's also in times like those that make her nostalgic, and not in a good way. Aaron placed a hand on her shoulder. "There is no shame in the feeling of loss, you know."

Sakura nodded. "I know, but I cannot forget my goal."

"Which is exactly why we should take this as a chance to just unwind and be grateful for what we have."

The sudden comment made by Aaron caught her off guard. She raised an eyebrow. "Were you reading Christmas stories again?" She asked him.

Aaron picked up a book, which happened to be a children's story. His summoner looked at him with a mix of disapproval and concern while Rize had an amused smile on her face. "I did not think you were the type to read those."

Aaron looked at the book. "I still don't understand this holiday… where did it come from, anyway?"

"Now that I think about it, I don't know." Rize also pondered about the holiday. "What about you?" she inquired her summoner about it but was met with a shrug. "If I knew anything about it, I would have told you a long time ago," replied Sakura. "If memory serves, There were a few documented cases of refugees originating from other worlds that may explain who may have brought it over. According to those same documents, other symbolism included celebrating the passing of the winter's solstice to times of prayer. "

"But if that's the case, what world did it came from?" Aaron brought up the question, which put the trio into a state of contemplation, spending the whole day pondering the existence and various meanings of this holiday.

* * *

…

* * *

"How are you still awake, Ace?"

"Come on Evy! It's only Christmas morning!"

The twins were already downstairs, a few gifts were set under the tree. The units were still fast asleep, prompting Ace to sneak the gifts into their rooms. He managed to do so with little difficulty, seeing how heavy sleepers they all were. He left a gift at the foot of the door leading to each of their rooms, not wanting to risk sneaking inside. After he was done, he quietly walked back to the living room, allowing the units to continue sleeping.

Ninmah was the first to wake up, taking a few moments to let her eyes adjust to her settings. She walked down to see how Enki was doing, only to be met with a box sitting at her feet the moment she opened the door. Curious, she looked at the gift and examined it. Aside from the bright looking ribbon and decorative wrapping, she looked at the small tag attached to the ribbon labeled "To: Ninmah" in Ace's handwriting. She gently unwrapped the box to see what it contained. In it was a small box that held a necklace in the shape of a crescent moon. She found the gift oddly fitting for her, it was wonderful, yet odd. Normally gifts of such grade would normally be more fitting to someone betrothed rather than a gift one would give out of goodwill. Knowing Ace, he tends to show his appreciation to everyone in the most over the top ways, so she did not mind.

Ninmah went over to Enki's room to wake him up. She spotted him, already awake and looking at his gift with a mix of dumbfounded and nostalgia. "I didn't think Ace would know my taste." He said. But what is the point of gift giving anyway?"

Ninmah contemplated on the thought for a moment before giving her assumption. "Perhaps this is an example of goodwill and gratitude?"

Not exactly a stranger to that type of custom, Enki understood it with little problem. "Huh, if that is the case, then he should have told me in advance. I would have gladly done the same."

"Perhaps he did not say anything so he could surprise us?"

"If he was trying to, then it worked." Enki closed the door behind him, holding onto the bone necklace. "Now then, shall we see what is going on downstairs?"

"Yes." The two made their way over to the living room, passing by Vargas and Lava's rooms along the way.

Lava was the next to awaken, leaving her room as she looked at the present dumbfounded. Wanting to ask why she decided to go downstairs to inquire her summoners about it. "Who gave me this?" She asked, holding up the still-wrapped gift.

Evelyne pointed to Ace, who responded with. "Open it."

Doing as he requested, Lava unwrapped the gift, in it was a small book with its contents blank. "A journal?" She eyed the book with confusion. "Why did you give me this?"

"Don't ask me, ask Evy." He pointed to his sister.

"He didn't know what to give you." She pushed up her glasses to readjust them. "But I figured that you might need something to do as you tend to be alone most of the time."

"I see, I suppose this is good enough. Thank you."

"Morning everyone." Vargas yawned as he made his way to the living room, a thick orange-colored blanket over him. "Finally I was able to sleep last night."

"Glad you liked the gift!" Ace laughed.

Vargas looked confused. "Wait, this blanket was a gift?" the question hadboth Lava and Evelyne sigh in disappointment. "If it was, then it really helped!"

Ace grinned, happy to know he was able to help out with his gifts. He looked out the door with a wistful expression and let out a soft sigh.

His sister knew what he was thinking and said, "He's not going to come back, you know?"

"You gotta have faith, Evy!" He replied. "Our old man's going to come back, I just know it!."

"You've been saying that for the past 8 years," She sighed. "Don't you think that he might have, well, you know...?" Her voice trailed off, hopefully, Ace knew what she was talking about.

"No way!" Ace maintained his usual optimistic demeanor. "Our old man would never kick the bucket that easily! Don't be such a pessimist!"

"For the last time. Father is not-" She was about to voice her complaint again when almost as if on cue, a voice called out by the door. "Am I late?" The siblings looked towards the door to see who was there. Standing by the door was an older male with shoulder length blond hair donning a blue long coat and brown pants. On top of his attire were a pair of metal boots and gauntlets that served as his armor, they glistened as they reflected the light emanating throughout the room. "Old man!" Ace rushed up to his father and tackle-hugged him. "Whoa whoa! I'm not THAT old!" the man retorted.

"It looks like Viktor finally returns." Vargas chuckled, leaning against the wall as he looked at him with tired eyes.

Viktor looked at the room to see Evelyne, who merely stood there silently with a shadow cast over her eyes. She slowly approached the man, and quickly punched his face with a well-placed cross on his left cheek. He coughed as he is sent flying into the wall behind him. "What the hell was that for?!" Ace shouted, but fell silent as he could see tears streaming down her face. "She approached Viktor once again, this time pulling him into a rather tight embrace. "Where were you…?" She asked him in a hushed tone, doing her best not to cry in front of her father.

"There is no need to cry, Evy." He replied. The way he referred to her by her nickname was identical to the way Ace would, no doubt a quirk that was passed down to him. He gently pats her on the back as he comforted her. Ace stood nearby, looking at the sight with a warmer smile. He knew she probably missed his father more than he did.

It took some time for Evelyne to stop crying, about ten minutes had passed before she was able to speak coherently again. "Why did it take you so long to come back?" she inquired, wiping the last of her tears off her face.

"In fact, where DID you go? Did you have any problems?" added Ace.

"No, my life has been sunshines, rainbows, and unicorns," Viktor replied with his signature brand of sarcasm. "Believe me, so much has happened that saying it's a long story would be an understatement," he replied. He looked over to Ninmah and Enki with a curious look. "And I see you have summoned some new units."

"You must be their father, I am-" Ninmah was about to introduce herself when Viktor cut her off.

"I know who you are, no need to be so formal with me," he said. "And I believe you are Enki, right?" looking towards the Kingdom Devourer next.

"Yes I am," Enki replied. "You have a problem with that?"

"No, though with your appearance, you could easily fit the stereotype for 'dumb muscle'" Viktor replied with a playfully snide remark.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME?!" Enki snapped back. The group all simultaneously cringed as the mood drastically changed within a split second. Ninmah and Ace both went over to restrain Enki while Evelyne sighed at how quick the setting devolved to immature levels.

"I'm kidding. There is no need to blow a gasket." Viktor raised his arms up in a joking fashion as if he was giving up. Enki grumbled as he placed his sword to the side. "I'll take you on any day, but let's just relax for now."

"Hmph. Fine by me." Enki sat down, with Ninmah trying to calm him down.

The comical tension slowly died down, but a sense of friction still lingered between Vitor and Enki. Vargas stood over to the side, watching all this with an uncharacteristically wistful expression. Lava noticed how nostalgic he looked and asked, "Does this bring back any memories?"

Vargas nodded. "Yeah. It makes me look back on the time I spent with my family."

"Are you talking about your father, Avant?"

Vargas nodded again. "I just wish that I could see him again, you know? It's been a very long time since I've seen him."

Lava placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure he would be proud of how far you've gone. No doubt he would want to spend the holidays with you as well."

Vargas smiled. "Thanks, Lava." He thanked her, "Maybe when this is over, we could have that rematch?"

Lava responded with a nod. "Of course. Just try not to act like a baby again if you lose."

"Oh, I'm not going to lose! This time I'll win!" Vargas countered. "Just you watch!"

Lava giggled. "There's the Vargas I know."

With the reunion, the sense of happiness between each unit, and to top it all off, all of it happening on Christmas, he felt happier than he should. "You know what this calls for? A song!"

"Here we go again..." Evelyne sighed, bracing for the random stupidity that was the caroling marathon. Enki tensed up at the suggestion, considering his blunder from last night. Both Ninmah and Vargas did not seem to mind it, with the latter looking rather excited. Viktor let out a wry chuckle. "This is going to be a fun day..." Indeed, the Rex household is filled with life, as it has always been.

* * *

..

* * *

"Can't sleep…" She was not sure whether it was the excess sugar in her system or somehow she had slept wrong, but Clockwork found herself wide awake. Luckily, it was already sunrise, so she need not worry much, except what to do to pass the time while everyone was asleep. She floated around, performing continuous front flips to entertain herself for a little bit.

After a little while, Hikari made her way towards the living room, looking slightly drowsy as she stumbles around the hallway. "Morning, Hika." Clockwork greeted her.

"M-Morning…" Hikari replied. "W-Wait… When did you get up?"

"Not too long ago. What about everyone else?"

"S-Still sleeping…"

"I guess it can't be helped." Clockwork shrugged, floating over to a counter to grab yet another box of chocolates. Unfortunately for her, she ran out of chocolates again, she shook the box in vain as all she could see were a few crumbs falling out of it. "I guess this isn't my day. Oh well." She floated back to the decorated living room, brushing this off as a minor inconvenience. She saw Hikari, sitting in the middle of the room and staring straight at the tree. She was silent as she looked at the ornaments, her expression did not show any signs of worry or anxiety, just a straight face. Clockwork simply thought she was entranced by the decorations and decided to try to see if she could catch up on her sleep, that is until Hikari stopped her. "U-Umm… Clockwork…?"

"Hmm? What is it?" She stopped just as she was about to enter the hallway.

"I… I just want to thank you…"

"Thank me? What for?" Clockwork looked slightly puzzled.

"F-for everything…"

She knew where she was getting at. Floating towards Hikari, She replied, "You don't need to thank me."

"But I should. To be honest… You kind of remind me of my teacher sometimes…."

 _Uh oh. Did she find out already?_ Feigning ignorance, she kept her composure. "I do? In what way?"

"Y-You always watches o-over me... a-acting like my g-guardian th-these past years…" She stuttered frequently, she seemed to have a really hard time trying to get her words out.

"Calm down, Hika." said Clockwork, who floated towards Hikari's side and slowly descended to sit down beside her.. "Just take deep breaths and take your time."

"I-It's just that… You g-give off that same f-feeling as teacher…" She still seemed a bit nervous, wondering if she may have sounded rude.

"I do, huh?" Clockwork replied, continuing her act, though the response prompted Hikari to feel flustered again.

"E-Er… Did I say something wrong?" She asked, thinking she may have said it in a weird way.

Clockwork shook her head. "No, I can understand what you mean. I really resemble your teacher, huh"

"S-Somewhat… You look somewhat like her, and you look after me just like she did…"

Being smaller than her, Clockwork floated up to pat Hikari on the head. "I'm sure your teacher would be very proud of how hard you work."

"Th-Thank you…" Hikari blushed. _Teacher… I'll work hard, I won't let your teachings be forgotten. I'll make you proud. You'll see._

As this was going on, Elimo and Sefia were standing in the hallway just out of their sight, watching the scene at the distance. "This is quite a rare sight," Sefia whispered. "Seeing Clockwork take initiative and my summoner talks longer than usual."

"Indeed. This is quite the uncommon sight." Elimo nodded. "Then again, those two are close, don't you think?"

"They sure are," replied Sefia. "Shall we leave them be?"

"Yeah." The two quietly walked back to their rooms, allowing their summoners have a quiet conversation in peace.

* * *

…

* * *

 _Is this the gift?_ Nevryn thought as he found a bouquet of flowers resting outside. The bouquet consisted of yellow and white roses, which represented friendship and purity respectively. By the looks of things, it had not been sitting out on the porch for long, so they all seemed to be healthy. Attached to the bouquet was a note attached to it that read:

"If you had not thrown this out already,  
I had a feeling that this kind of gift would be perfect for you to give her.

I hope this was enough to help you out."

My regards,

-Fray

He looked at the bouquet dumbfounded. There were a handful of people who knew of his tragedy, but where did he get the notion that flowers were a good idea? It most likely stemmed from Halcya's epithet "Higanbana", or the red spider lily, also known as "the flower of death". Perhaps he had the assumption that flower symbolism had run through the family and this was the best idea Fray had on such short notice. He had to commend the youth's observational skills, though he still felt a little dubious on the choice of flower. _I am not exactly looking to propose to anyone…_ He thought, knowing that roses, to the layperson, were often a staple for romantic symbolism. No one else was there, Hola was still reviewing her notes from last night, Yuura was still asleep, and he could only assume Sara was as well. _If she saw this, she may get a wrong idea. I better get rid of this before-_

"Awake already?" Sara was awake and was hugging him from behind without him knowing.

 _Too late, I better try to play this off…_ Maintaining his composure, Nevryn greeted her. "Good morning."

Sara's smile grew wider as her eyes laid on to the bouquet of roses he was holding. "So, who's the lucky girl?" Without saying a word, he turned around and held out the bouquet to her. "For me? You shouldn't have." she took the bouquet and took a sniff. "Aren't you a romantic?" Sara teased, which prompted Nevryn to look away with slight embarrassment. _There is no way that this will work…_ He thought. If he wanted to repay for her hospitality, knowing Sara's tastes, a simple bouquet of flowers certainly wouldn't do.

Contrary to what he was thinking, he was taken slightly aback as Sara pulled him into an embrace. To make matters stranger, not a single hint that suggests any sort of vulgarity could be found. "No fondling? This is a surprise," said Nevryn.

"Are you suggesting that you enjoy it?" She maintained her smile.

"On second thought, this is okay." he quickly replied. "But what's with the sudden change of heart?"

"I think you know what I am talking about," she replied, knowing fully well that Nevryn snuck into her room at one point. He looked down, looking slightly regretful for stepping his boundaries. Sara, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind, patting him on the head rather affectionately. "You didn't need to give me anything," she said. "That party was more than enough to satisfy me. Still, I really appreciate it."

He felt rather relieved, knowing he did something that would show his gratitude, even if said act of gratitude had a probable chance of failing. What happened next was something he did not expect either. She leaned down and kissed his forehead, reinforcing their platonic relationship. Nevryn never expected her to do something like this, he had long since have grown accustomed to Sara being more vulgar or flirtatious. The act also made him feel somewhat nostalgic, reminiscing the moments where he would have moments like these with his sister. He had not forgotten his goal, but he felt a newfound sense of ease toward the holiday. _I suppose having a respite on occasions like these wouldn't be detrimental._ He thought, feeling less tense now.

* * *

...

 _Hope he likes the gift I sent_. thought Fray, having already awakened and was sipping from a cup of hot chocolate he had recently prepared. He had to place a call to a local florist who was gracious enough to make the delivery on such short notice. His two units were also up, with Limera shoveling the snow off the walkway outside and Galtier quietly tending to his horse. The former was reminiscing about her reunion with her brother. She still snickered about the parting words she left him, no doubt that Rouche would most likely find himself lost somewhere in the future. The thought of it entertained her as she went through the mundane chore.

Fray also went out to assist her, grabbing a shovel of his own as he too began to help remove the snow blocking the walkway. With the two's combined effort, the job was over in little time at looked over to Galtier, who was being oddly quiet this morning. He went up to the knight to see if anything was the matter. "That expression of yours tell me that either you are still angry with Semira, or you are thinking about what happened a few days ago," he said.

Galtier remained silent, it was either one or the other, but in this case, it definitely felt like both. "There's no shame to be soft at least once in awhile, you know."

The knight made a simple huff as he made his way inside, intentionally bumping into his summoner along the way. Fray remained resilient, quickly regaining his balance and follows him inside. "Come on now, it's Christmas, try not to be a Scrooge." He continued to see if he could try to convince Galtier to lighten up like he did back in the orphanage, but it seemed like the knight would not budge. He thought of trying to tease Galtier again regarding Semira, hoping he could at least make some sort of reaction when Limera barged through the door. "Hey, guys!" She shouted. "It looks like our friends from the orphanage brought us a gift!" She held up a rolled up construction board, unraveling it showed that it was a large card made by the children.

On the cover was a cute little drawing of the trio surrounded by the made from crayon. The drawing of each child were all individually different, no doubt each of the children had contributed to the card. Inside the card was a simple "Merry Christmas!" written across the page. Names were written all over the page, all in different, albeit messy, handwriting. Inside the card were stacks of paper depicting more drawings made by the children, ranging from presents to decorated coniferous trees to toys such as small trains and teddy bears. Fray and Limera looked at each drawing with intrigue and delight, admiring how hard they all worked on to make this.

The two looked to Galtier, expecting him to complain about how this is not the kind of reward he was expecting. Much to their surprise, however, he remained silent, fixated on one particular drawing. The drawing showed a rather crude representation of Galtier. Beside it was the drawing of a little girl he found familiar, the annoying little girl that both pestered him with an onslaught of questions and made him look rather pathetic. The child was half right, though. Semira no longer held any animosity toward him, with the need of tormenting him through teasing and snide remarks replacing it. By the looks of his eyes, he did not seem to show any signs of being bitter over it, though he still looked like he was mulling over it. "We have been over this, Galtier." Fray sighed. "You're not helping anyone by remaining silent. I told you to-" Galtier cut him off, finishing his sentence before him.

"Not to be a Scrooge. I had heard you the first time." His tone was that of irritation, as expected of him.

"Then why are you spacing out?"

"I'm merely thinking about something."

"About what, exactly?"

"About what stories I should tell the next time we… volunteer." He replied. The response prompted a smile in the two. "Tell you what," Began Fray. "Once we get the holiday's over, it's back to our jobs. We could go on a couple of raids or surveys, and we could tell them what we encountered."

"Good idea! And maybe he can tell it!" Limera chimed in, pointing towards Galtier. The knight chuckled in reply, amused over the idea. "This will be glorious!" He appeared to have cast aside whatever feelings of self-pity or anxiety he had in him, replaced with his usual prideful self.

The two units looked excited as if acting like a bunch of children on their own make-believe adventures. Galtier and Limera both exchanged ideas as to what else would be noteworthy to tell the orphans, all the while Fray watched this all with an amused smile. _Well now._ He thought. _Great job Galtier, you went from Scrooge to Grinch._

* * *

…

* * *

"What a night…" Lunar yawned. Never did she thought she would eat so much sugar, not since the fiasco where she attempted to eat about a hundred wafers before being stopped by her units on her eightieth one. As the result of that, she went to sleep rather quickly and woke up feeling more groggy. She looked at her clock, 10:00 am it said. "Wow." she blinked, staring at the clock with a bewildered look. "That was one party." She was well aware that today was Christmas, but she decided to let her get her bearings before celebrating. She took the time to look outside and admire the morning scenery from her bedroom window. There was something about the fact that it was Christmas morning that made the view all the more nostalgic, the sentimental value of the day accompanied with the ideal winter setting outside made it all the more spectacular and bittersweet.

Lunar then looked over to her signature dual swords that leaned against the wall, looking at them with a soft smile on her face. Memories of her past began to resurface, the happy moments she had spent with a close friend whose brief appearance gave her respite after her father's sudden disappearance while hunting a demon. _If only you two were here…_ She thought, feeling somewhat doleful as felt the need to see them again. A single teardrop trickled down her face, but she was able to stop herself from crying. _No, I shouldn't cry. I don't wanna disappoint my father. I'm not going to let his teachings go to waste._ She wiped her tears and looked back at the scenery. _I'll find him for you, mom. I'll bring him home._ She looked up to the sky, this time thinking about her friend. _Wherever you are, I hope we can see each other again. Maybe one day we could celebrate this holiday together._ She closed the windows, turned to face the door and encouraged herself. "Alright! Gotta stay positive! Time to see how everyone is doing!" She began skipping her way downstairs, now with her usual energetic smile.

Meanwhile, in the living room, The units, along with Shimmer, were already wide awake, albeit still feeling drowsy. Dion was the only unit not present in the room, something that both irritated Ruby and worried Medina. _Is he that inexperienced with socializing that it takes him so long to come up with a plan?_ She thought. Dion quietly walked into the room, Medina turned to face him and asked, "Do you have a clue what to do?" She whispered. Dion said nothing, he simply had something tucked under his arm. In it was a gift of sorts, no doubt he was going to give it to Ruby. "Good luck." She patted him on the shoulder and watched him walk towards the fox girl.

Ruby watched her fox running around in circles when she spotted Dion walking by. Instinctively, she shot a glare at him, her fox did the same, uttering a soft growl. "What do you want?" She asked, sounding a little irritated still.

Dion said nothing as he held out his gift to her, not making eye contact. "I hope this might help shut you up."

Ruby eyed the gift with a skeptical look, thinking that whatever was inside, it had to be something very cheap.. She then looked to Dion, who appeared to look slightly embarrassed, which hinted it could be something else. She quickly unwrapped the gift, her eyes widened as she looked at its contents. Inside the box were a pair of scarves, one for her, and one noticeably smaller that would fit for her fox. They were of a bright red color, a rather fitting choice considering her fire motif, and they looked well knitted. "And here I thought you didn't care." She smiled.

Dion scoffed. "Don't get the wrong idea. I only did this because my summoner forced me to. A noticeable blush could be seen on his face, which made Ruby feel all the more cheerful. "Are you sure? Or is it because you felt guilty?" She teased him, hoping to get a reaction out of him in this state.

"I-I told you not to get the wrong idea!" He stuttered, looking all the more embarrassed. This prompted everyone else in the room, especially Ruby and Semira, to giggle at his expense.

"Well, whether you did it out of concern or not, this is still the kindest thing you've done." She put on the scarf and wraps it around her neck, she began to do the same to her fox. "How do I look?" She asked everyone, and they all nodded in approval. She then turned to Dion, looking at him with a look of intent. "How about you? What do you think?" She asked him.

Still maintaining improper eye contact, Dion replied, "It looks great…" He muttered almost inaudibly.

"Hmm? I couldn't hear you?" She leaned in closer, feeling a rise out of Dion's embarrassed state.

"I said it looks great on you okay?!" He shouted. "There, happy now?"

"Not quite." Ruby smiled.

"What more do you want from me?" Asked Dion, on the verge of snapping as his patience was wearing thin.

Suddenly, Ruby lunged towards him, tackle hugging him and simultaneously kisses him square on the lips. The sudden action caught Dion off guard, giving him no time to react. His face was also quickly turning red from both embarrassment and slight irritation out of the kiss. He wondered why she did this when he spotted a familiar looking object within his peripheral vision. A mistletoe hanging by a string attached to a stick held up by none other than Semira, who was smiling at the two. _I should have known…_ He thought. _Well, at least it couldn't get any-_ just as he thought he could try to relax, he spotted his summoner by the stairwell, a writing down in a familiar looking notebook. _I guess I thought too soon…_ Medina and Shimmer both stared with blank expressions on their faces, unable to comprehend the ridiculousness of the situation. Both Lunar and Semira were feeling very satisfied with the events, with Semira getting enjoyment out of the moment while Lunar felt both relieved that the problems are solved and she got what she wanted for Christmas: a shipping moment in a holiday setting. Things were all in order in the household, all as it should be, much to Lunar's delight.

* * *

…

* * *

 _Adventurer's Prairie_

James walked around the seemingly endless grassy fields, the warm air and gentle breeze were a stark contrast with Elgaia's winter setting. The setting felt rather nostalgic, it was here where everything started. He looked back to the first moments where he was tossed into Grand Gaia, meeting Tilith, summoning his units for the first time, and where he got dragged into this world's problems. He let out a chuckle, thinking about the numerous outlandish moments he had in his time here. He did not regret a single thing here, there were most likely many other problems going on back in his world but it was not on a monumental scale like the ones here. He looked around, no monsters, no people, just the blue sky and the grassy fields below. He felt more at ease here, maybe it's because of the tranquil setting. He looked around, expecting someone to arrive. "Am I late?" Called out a familiar voice. "No, you aren't,"James replied.

He turned to face the Goddess, who was sprinting towards him with her usual optimistic demeanor. Her face shifted into a pout. "So, I heard you and the other summoners had a party yesterday." She said. He was not going to question how in the world she was able to figure that out. He knew she probably was not omnipotent, but he did not feel like deducing things at the moment. "Y-Yes… There was…" he stuttered. "Sorry if we forgot about you."

Tilith remained cheerful. "Don't worry about it. You all did so much, you guys deserve a break. Though I would like to know what this "Christmas" thing is about for myself…" She muttered the last sentence, looking a little disappointed. James sighed, holding out a small box in one hand and something wrapped around in a napkin on the other. "What are these?" she asked, taking both items. "Open them," James replied. She began to open the gift first, looking rather excited as she removed the wrapping and opened the box to reveal it contents. In it were a pair of jingle bells. Picking them up, she began to ring it, her eyes lit up with childlike wonder as she found the sound delightful. Knowing her, she was rather naive, and was more interested in human concepts than the other gods, along with a few exceptions.

He looked at her, giving off a faint smile. _Sorry I had to give your gift to someone else, Ace._ He thought. _But I figured she would enjoy it._ She then began to unravel the next item, the faint smell of something sweet emanated from it. To her expectations, inside was a small batch of cookies. They felt rather cool, having been out in the cold most likely. She paid no attention to it as she began to eat the cookies, almost in the same matter as Clockwork and Yume. "These are good! Did you make them?" She asked with her mouth somewhat full.

James nodded. "Yes. I didn't want to leave you out of the equation, so this is my little gift to you."

"Is this what Christmas is about?" She wondered out loud, still eating the cookies.

"Well… Gift giving is just one aspect of it." He replied. "Though… I guess this doesn't begin to repay for everything you've done."

"Y-You don't need to be like that!" Tilith said. "I Just did my job, so did you all. You don't have to act like you're in debt!"

James scratched his head. "Sorry about that. I guess that side gets the better of me." He looked away feeling slightly embarrassed, which made Tilith giggle a little. "Oh yeah!" She began. "What about your friend? Shouldn't She be here? And where are your units?"

"Sleeping back in Elgaia." He replied. "We overworked ourselves last night, I didn't want to disturb them, so I let them sleep."

"Ah, I see. In that case, why not spend some time with her? I'm sure she would want to spend it with you."

 _Crap, I forgot about that._ "I just needed a little walk to clear my head, and to give you those." James turned around. "Sorry if I bothered you with anything."

"Not to worry! Maybe the next time you two have a party, how about you do it at the beach?" She smiled

The proposal through James off. The idea of going to the beach made him feel very uncomfortable. He wanted to protest, but all that came out was a stutter.

"I'm just kidding." She giggled. "You don't want to make her wait, right?"

"Yeah, I don't."

"I shouldn't keep you out for too long then. Take care! And, err…. How do you say it again? Ah! Merry Christmas!" She waved him goodbye.

"Merry Christmas" He waved back and proceeded to walk towards the nearest gate leading back to Elgaia at a brisk pace, no doubt that if he stayed out for too long, Valerie would most likely have his head.

…

Back at the Graham residence, the units along with Valerie are wide awake. The clock read 10:00 am, the group had slept for a long time after staying up late to clean up the house of the aftermath of the party. Rouche was assisting Valerie, who had bumped her head after tumbling down the stairs in her drowsy state. Lara brought an ice pack over from the kitchen to help her deal with the pain. "You should really be careful when you walk around like that." She explained.

"Yes… Sorry about the inconvenience." She replied, taking the ice pack and rubbing it against her forehead. One thing immediately struck her as painfully obvious. "Where did James go?"

"Hmm… I see him coming now!" Tora replied, staring out the window. She spotted James walking towards the house with his usually impassive expression on his face.

Outside, he saw that the house's lights were on. They were already awake. _Don't tell me she-_ He saw Valerie opened the door to let him in, still rubbing the ice pack on her head. "Where have you been?" She asked.

"I just went out on a little stroll, and took a little visit with our Goddess friend." He replied, taking off his coat and hanging it on the nearby coat hanger.

"Oh? What for?"

"Knowing her, I doubt she would not want to miss out on the fun. So I gave her some gifts."

"That's thoughtful of you." sad Valerie, placing the ice pack down. "But do you really need to walk around so early in the morning?"

"Sorry about that." James scratched his head, looking down with slight embarrassment. "I felt like needing to relax again. And all this time I forgot about getting you a gift…"

She shook her head. "It's fine." She placed her hand on his shoulder. "The party last night was more than enough. Plus, at I stopped you from injuring yourself through those raid marathons for a couple of weeks."

"Are my binge raids that detrimental?" He asked.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room before Tora broke the silence. "Umm… Yes…" she said quietly.

"Considering the fact we overdid ourselves to the point of us nearly getting killed by an Edelma in our most recent attempt, I think that speaks for itself," Sirius spoke up.

James sighed. "Perhaps I really do need to lighten up…"

"You never really change, do you?" Valerie giggled. "So… What do you want to do?"

"Why me?" He asked, looking rather confused.

"Because I did all the planning these past few weeks, now it's your turn to come up with a plan."

James looked up to see that everyone in the room was staring directly at him, waiting to see what he would say next. After a taking a few moments to think, he gave the simplest of answers. "Right now, I want to take another walk. And I want everyone else to join in too."

"Of course you do." She smiled. "Give me a second to change, okay?" Valerie ran upstairs to her room to get dressed, leaving James and the units in the living room to wait.

"Are you thinking of running away again?" Rouche spoke up. Sirius and Tora walked in right behind him to block the door in the likelihood that he does.

He shook his head. "And what do you take me for, commander?" He asked back, replying in an almost joking manner. "I thought I made it clear that I wanted to walk along in a group this time."

"W-Well… considering the many times, you leave Valerie behind…" Tora spoke up, though her voice trails off in fear of being berated.

"We believed that you might do it again." Lara completed the sentence for her.

James uttered a soft chuckle. "You guys… I guess I still have to make it up to you all as well."

After a few minutes, Valerie returns, all bundled up and ready to go outside. "Well then, where to first?" She asked.

"Considering that all the stores are closed right now, why not see where the wind will take us?"

Valerie nodded, holding James' hand. "If you say so. Try not to ditch me again, alright?"

"Why is everyone assuming that today?" Everyone chuckled at the response as they made their way out. James placed his free hand into his coat pocket and rifled around for a bit before slowly taking out a small ornate cross. He looked at it with bittersweet nostalgia, remembering his past memories of a friend he long since missed. _I suppose that there is never a dull moment in life. Wouldn't you agree, Aria?_ He thought, slowly turning his head to look up into the sky. _Wherever you are, please continue to watch over me. And tell my family I said hello._ "Come on! Let's go! We can't let the others get ahead of us!" Valerie shouted as he tugged James by the arm, pulling him along into the streets of Randall and snapping him out of his trance. He smiled, looking forward and allowing himself to be dragged along for the ride.

...

Christmas, a day that happens only once a year. Celebrated in many different ways, whether it is for respite, for prayer, or just to have a little fun. Some might choose not to celebrate it at all or treat it as they would any other day. Regardless of how one might interpret the holiday, one thing remained was for certain, it's holidays such as these that help bring people together, whether they are friends, families, or strangers; and one cannot help but to admire how long it has endured and how far it can spread, even in unfamiliar settings in worlds such as Elgaia.

* * *

 **Finally, after a month of writing, editing, planning scenarios and stressing over character portrayal (mainly the last one), it's finally finished. I'll be honest, I actually faced a few setbacks while writing out the chapters in advance (specifically University midterms and a few parties my family drags me to), so I was afraid I might not be able to write them all in time for their releases. The last few weeks were quite busy because of me spending the whole day writing,and that's why the later chapters look... rushed, so to speak. Looking at the reviews, so I'm glad that effort paid off at least but I had fun writing this overall. I ought to stop rambling, I'm sure you all have better things to do than to hear me talk like a stereotypical elder. This is Some Wandering Anon, signing off and wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.**


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